Rules Of The Hunt
by FenrisRoots
Summary: Discontinued: Naruto discovers something that changes his life forever.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, just to make everything clear, this story was written awhile ago and I ended up taking off this site however I've decided to repost it and many others that I've discontinued or are awaiting a rewrite.

ALL of my active stories are posted on the profile for Fenris187 and none of the fics here will be updated.

Also, I own no IP at all right now and make no money off this free access fanfiction.

* * *

It was cold, wet and he was hungry, he knew that much but nothing else.

Then again, in the mind of a four year old child, those were all that really mattered.

He remembered being taken to the park by the old man. He met a couple of other kids around his age and was playing hide and seek with them… until he fell. He didn't know why, but when he went to hide in a bush, he simply fell.

What he didn't know was that the bush was growing over a small shaft that led to an underground cave that remained undisturbed to that day.

Opening his eyes, the young boy looked around as he tried to grow accustomed to the darkness he was now thrust into.

Ignoring his aching bones, he started crawling as he desperately searched for a way out of this hellhole.

After what seemed like days, the young child finally gave up. Unable to find his way out, unable to even see, he couldn't help but break down and cry as the hopelessness of the situation sank in.

It was then that a small glimmer of hope made itself known, as something jerked to life when the sobbing kid leaned on it. It growled loudly, almost deafening the small child, before one by one, spots of light illuminated the cave.

Covering his eyes from the blinding light, it took the child several minutes for his eyes to grow accustomed to the comforting light.

The child had spiky blond hair, bright blue eyes, a set of whisker like birthmarks on his cheeks and was underweight for his age.

Looking around, the child looked to see what he leaned against, only to blink in confusion as he faced a large… thing made out of metal. Looking at the rest of the cave, he was surprised to see wires suspended between countless poles and large, crumbling buildings made of metal and glass.

Getting to his feet, the young blond began to search the streets for anything, even going into the odd building here and there.

However, there was one building that caught his attention. It had a blue sign with yellow letters that read 'Blockbuster'.

Entering the building, the child was surprised to see countless strange boxes with strange titles, while another strange box showed a moving pattern of white, grey and black.

Opening one of the boxes, he pulled out a strange disc, that he noticed, would fit in a slot on the side of the moving picture box… so he did the first thing that came to mind… put the disc in the slot.

As soon as he did this, the image changed and the young blond watched as it showed him things he never thought possible.

XXX

"What do you mean you can't find Naruto?" an old man wearing a red and white hat with the Kanji for fire written on it, asked the masked man that was kneeling in front of him.

"Please understand Hokage-sama… but both the Inuzuka's and Pakkun keep saying that he never even left the park… whoever did this is obviously an expert on abduction to be capable of doing this," the masked ninja said as he continued to kneel before the village leader.

"Dammit… continue to search for him, I want him found!" the old man barked out, receiving a 'hai Hokage-sama' as the masked man disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Dammit Naruto… please be safe."

XXX

Uzumaki Naruto was scared… things like THAT existed!

After watching that film, he was truly terrified… that thing could be standing right behind him and he would never know... until it ripped his skull out that is.

Sobbing as he thought of what the monster would do if it found him, he soon cried himself to sleep.

XXX

The Sandaime Hokage was having a very bad day… no matter who he sent to search for the young blond, everyone came back empty handed, with every last one of them saying he never left the park.

So right now he decided to spend some time searching himself… he knew he was a fool to search in the dark, but he didn't care… he just wanted to find the young blond and save him from whatever cruel fate was in store for him.

The aged leader felt himself grow more tired with every passing minute and was beginning to wish he'd never taken his eye off the blond.

It was then that he noticed something he never thought he'd see… a glowing bush.

"Well that certainly is unusual," he muttered to himself as he walked over to the offending object, careful of any traps that may have been installed.

However, everything became clear when he saw where the light was coming from… a single hole, to deep for him to see the bottom of, it was too small for an adult to fit through… however for a child of Naruto's age, it was more than easy enough to fall down.

"Naruto… please be alright," the aged leader muttered as he left to prepare a rescue team for the blond.

XXX

Waking up from his sobbing induced coma, Naruto immediately remembered the monster he had seen on that film… so doing what came naturally, he decided to see if there was anything else about it in the room… so he searched and searched and searched, finding four other boxes that seemed to have the monster on the cover.

So he watched them, trying to figure out how to survive if he ever came face to face with one of them.

XXX

"Alright team… I believe Naruto might of fallen down this hole! Now, I don't want anyone using doton jutsu… we don't know how that will affect the structural integrity of whatever's down there and I don't want to risk losing an innocent child, now get to work!" the old man ordered the assembled group of ninja.

"Hai Hokage-sama!" they chorused as they began to excavate the area.

"_Hang on Naruto… we'll be there soon."_

XXX

He had finished watching them… these monsters were hunters… they hunted people for sport, they also hunted those 'serpents' for the same reason.

However they were honourable… they didn't kill anything that couldn't protect itself… of course, if Naruto wanted to become a ninja, he had to be capable of protecting himself… which made him a viable target for those monsters.

However, there was one other way to defeat them… by being a better hunter than them… so that is what he would be, he would become the greatest hunter in the universe, then he wouldn't have to worry about those monsters.

He would study their technology and figure out how to make it himself… then they would know what it felt like to be hunted like dogs… or his name wasn't Uzumaki Naruto.

XXX

Several hours later, the cavern began to shake, several of the buildings that had stood strong when he had arrived, crumbled under the movement, as Naruto did his best to avoid them all.

On his back was a rucksack filled with the screen and the films that had terrified him so much… he knew he had to get out, but he NEEDED that footage if he wanted to survive against those things.. so he did what came naturally, he decided to take the objects.

Just as a falling slab of debris was about to hit him, he felt something grasp his arm and pull him to safety, before carrying him away, jumping to a large hole in the ceiling and running UP the shaft before emerging at the top, as the park suddenly collapsed, leaving just a crater where it used to be.

"I've got him Hokage-sama!" looking at the man that saved him, Naruto noticed two things about him… the dog mask he was wearing and the gravity defying silver hair that sat on top of his head.

"Naruto!" the old man shouted as he embraced the young child, "I was so worried… don't ever do that again."

"What did I do?" the blond asked, misunderstanding what the old man was saying.

"You fell down a hole… please be more careful next time."

"Hai Ji-ji."

XXX

After being checked over, at the hospital, the blond was allowed to go home. When the old man had asked him what was in the bag, he told him the truth, 'just some stuff I picked up.'

He didn't see the need to tell the old man about these monsters… after all, he knew everything, there was no way he wouldn't know about those monsters… right?

So, after setting up the TV and putting the DVD's to the side, the blond proceeded to get washed and collapse on his bed, comfortable at last… until he remembered the hunters and serpents… he would have to make sure he was strong enough to protect everyone from those beasts.

As he said before, he would become the greatest hunter… or his name wasn't Uzumaki Naruto.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto woke up gasping for air when the morning came. Looking around, he came to the only conclusion he could.

"It was just a nightmare… it was just a nightmare," he muttered to himself as he recalled the horrifying dream. It had started off just like any other day… before the serpents showed up. He was only able to watch in horror as they slaughtered or kidnapped the people he cared about. Then the hunters showed up… they killed the serpents, taking their bulbous heads as trophies, while killing everyone that got in their way… the nightmare ended as he watched one of the hunters blast a hole in the old man's chest, before ripping his skull out to keep as nothing more than a trophy of a good hunt.

Taking deep breaths, the young blond kept repeating that it was just a nightmare, until he was calm enough to walk to the kitchen and get some instant ramen for breakfast.

After breakfast the four year decided to do something quite mature for a child… make a list, the title 'becum the best hunta' so he isn't good at spelling, what can you expect from a child of his age.

Sitting down he started to think of everything the hunters and the people who beat them had in common and started listing them, 'big', 'cool wepuns', 'lotsa skil' and 'stelf'.

After making his list, he thought of how to make all the points a reality… before realising that he had absolutely no idea how to achieve any of them. So he did the first thing he always did when he had questions… ask the old man.

XXX

The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen was annoyed... no matter how many blows he dealt to his enemy it simply wouldn't die… whoever said the pen was mightier than the sword had obviously NEVER been a Kage, because a sword would definitely do better against the mountain of paperwork than the pen did.

Sighing in exasperation as he read through and signed ANOTHER sheet of paper, he was pleasantly surprised to see a young blond charge through the door to his office.

"Hello Naruto-kun, what can I do for you?"

"Heh heh, hiya Jiji… I've got some questions to ask you," the young child stated nervously.

"Well then, go ahead and ask them."

"Uh, how do I grow big?"

"(sigh) to grow big you have to exercise regularly and eat a balanced diet, that means, you need to eat your veg as well… plus lots of meat is good for the development of muscles," the aged leader said.

"So I have to eat meat and veg… got it!" the four year old shouted after processing what the old man had said, "where do I get really cool weapons?"

"Naruto… you are too young to use weapons, so I will not tell you that… and if I find out you've been using weapons before entering the academy and being taught how to use them properly, you WILL be punished for it, do you understand?" the grandfatherly figure stated sternly, causing the whiskered blond to flinch at the tone used.

"Hai Jiji…"

"Look Naruto-kun… I know I might seem a bit harsh saying that, but if you use weapons without proper instruction, you could seriously hurt yourself and I'm not prepared to risk that," he explained in a grandfatherly tone.

"What about skills and stealth?"

"You will need to enrol in the shinobi academy to learn them Naruto-kun."

"Then can I please go there… please," the blue eyed blond pleaded, giving the aged leader the best puppy dog eyes he could.

"(Sigh)… Naruto-kun the age requirement for entering the shinobi academy is seven years old… you're still three years too young to enter."

"Please Jiji, please let me join, PLEASE!" the young blond practically begged.

"(sigh) I'll think about it Naruto-kun… but I make no promises," the Sandaime said.

"THANK YOU JIJI!" the blond shouted, tackling the aged leader to the ground, before running off to see if he could get a head start on his skills.

"(sigh)… how troublesome… GOD DAMMIT! I'm beginning to sound like a Nara!"

XXX

Several hours later, we find several people sitting around a large, rectangular table.

At the head of the table sat the Hokage, while directly on his right hand side, was an old man with a small pair of glasses resting on his nose, his name was Mitokado Homura. Next to him sat a masked man wearing a long white cloak, he was the head of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai… better known as ANBU. There was one more sitting on that side of the table, this time wearing a simple doctors outfit and looking quite annoyed, the head of the Iryō-nin(1) division, the one that ensured all of Konoha's ninja were operating at full capacity.

On the Hokages left, was an old woman with closed eyes and hair tied into a bun, her name was Utatane Koharu, while sitting next to her was a middle aged man with dark hair tied into a short ponytail, while a pair of scars adorned the right side of his face, the commander of the regular forces, Nara Shikaku. And the last of the people at the table was another old man, this time with spiky black hair and bandages covering his right eye, while a cross shaped scar was proudly displayed on his chin, his name Shimura Danzō.

Taking a deep breath, Sarutobi started the minor meeting.

"I have called you all together today to discuss the immediate future of Uzumaki Naruto."

"I thought the child was going to be put in the academy and turned into a ninja," Koharu stated calmly as she looked at her former teammate.

"That is indeed the plan Koharu… however he wishes to be given early enrolment… and I'm uncertain if I should allow him to enter early or not," the aged leader admitted.

"If I may Hiruzen…" Danzō started, drawing all attention to him, "the child is unable to lead a normal life, the orphanages refuse to care for him, claiming that they are full when they simply don't wish to see him on a daily basis… then there is the majorities fear of him being unable to contain his burden and forbidding their children from interacting with him… as such I believe that allowing him early enrolment might allow him to develop the social skills he wouldn't outside a controlled environment, while simultaneously developing him into a potential weapon for Konoha to use should he be needed."

"I'm surprised you didn't try to convince Hokage-sama into making him join ROOT," Shikaku said lazily.

"We all know that ROOT is a valuable resource for Konoha, even if many don't agree with my methods of training them… however you should remember that Konoha has more dark secrets than my ANBU… and for your information, Uzumaki simply disappearing would draw FAR too much attention, why else do you think I generally take orphans or other non-descript children?"

"(sigh) Although I don't agree with Danzō's methods… ROOT has proven invaluable during the fourth shinobi war, that is the only reason I'm allowing you to continue the program. Regardless, thank you for your input Danzō," the Hokage informed the group.

"I would agree with Shimura-san's observations… Uzumaki would benefit greatly from being allowed to participate within the academy… whether it be socially or academically," the head medic stated calmly.

"(sigh) So is everyone in agreement that early enrolment would benefit Naruto?"

"Hai Hokage-sama/Hiruzen/Sarutobi," was the unanimous reply from the other occupants.

"Very well then, you are all dismissed."

XXX

Naruto was exhausted… he had just run as far as his little legs could take him, as fast as they could… while occasionally stopping to do a couple of push-ups.

So right now he was laying on his bed, watching the first film about the 'hunters' again… he was still scared and disgusted at the images… the idea that something would skin humans and rip out their skulls to put in a trophy cabinet… it still didn't stick well with the blond.

But as he endured watching it, he needed to know his enemy inside out if he wanted to beat them… he fell asleep thinking of the hunters once again.

XXX

The following morning, Naruto woke up from a nightmare once again. After calming down, he proceeded to have a short shower, before gathering his things and going to one of his safe havens… Ichiraku's ramen stand.

"Hey Teuchi-ojisan!"

"Hello Naruto-kun, how are you today?" an old man wearing a simple chefs outfit asked.

"I'm okay," he replied, thinking back to the previous day and the Hokages advice on growing big and strong, "can I get something with a lot of meat of veg in it?"

"Why do you want lots of meat and veg?"

"Jiji said eating lots of meat and veg would make me big and strong!"

"Well then, just don't waste it gaki."

After receiving his meal, the young blond ate it a LOT slower than he normally eats ramen, simply because of the simple fact running through his mind… vegetables suck, but just like watching the 'hunters' he endured, he needed to grow big and strong if he wanted to fight those monsters.

"I thought I'd find you here Naruto-kun," an aged voice called from the entrance to the stand.

"Hey Jiji! What'cha doing here?"

"I was looking for you Naruto-kun."

"Why Jiji?"

"To tell you that I've thought over your request to enter the academy and have decided to let you enter early," the aged leader told the blond.

"YATTA! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"

"Calm down Naruto-kun… the first day of the academy starts in four days time… so today we're going to get you everything you need to start."

"Can I get some cool weapons?"

"(sigh) As far as weapons go, you will only be getting a basic set of Kunai and Shuriken… and even then you are forbidden from using them until the academy has taught you how to use them, do you understand?" Sarutobi stated sternly.

"Yeah Jiji… I can't use them until I'm taught how to."

"Good, now come on, unfortunately I don't have all day to help you, so we have to make the most of what time I have," the fire shadow said as he left the stand, with the four year old trailing right behind him.

XXX

"Here we are Naruto-kun… the tokushuheiki(2) store… one of the best weapon stores in Konoha," the Hokage said as the pair stood outside a rather plain looking shop.

"Really?"

"Yes really, it just doesn't like attracting attention… like any good shinobi," the aged leader informed the blond as they entered the building.

"Good day Hokage-sama… how can I help you?" a middle aged man that was built like a house and had short black hair asked from behind the counter.

"I'm here to purchase some basic supplies for Naruto-kun here," Sarutobi said calmly pointing at the four year old, "he's going to be joining the academy early."

"I see… so that means he just needs a basic set of kunai and shuriken, I'll get some out the back," the goliath said before journeying into the back of the store.

"Hey Jiji… are these all the weapons this place sells?" Naruto asked after looking around the store and finding nothing resembling the 'hunters' equipment.

"Yes it is Naruto, why are you asking?"

"It's just that they don't have what I want," the blond said with his head held low.

"If you want something special, then you can get Tessai to make it for you when you're older."

"Who's Tessai?"

"The shopkeeper here, he's also a respected blacksmith… every weapon you see in this store was crafted by him."

"Cool…"

"Here you go, a set of Kunai and shuriken," Tessai said as he came out the back with a couple of packs in his hands, before the Hokage paid for them and the duo left.

XXX

That night, Naruto fell asleep with only one thing going through his mind 'I'm one step closer to protecting everyone from the hunters and serpents'.

(1)medical ninja

(2)special weapon


	3. Chapter 3

It was official… the academy was boring… educational but boring.

Of course if he wanted to become the greatest hunter, Naruto had to learn everything he could, so right now he was giving the Chūnin instructor,Funeno Daikokua, his full attention. the instructor was a tall and chubby man with a small brown goatee. He wore the typical Konoha flak jacket over a set of navy blue pants and shirt, while his Hitae-ate was tied around his head with a bandanna.

None of the other children had the same determination to reach their goal that Naruto had, so they didn't really pay the instructor much attention, primarily because they didn't have vivid nightmares of what might happen if they didn't succeed, every night.

It had been a month since the academy had started and Naruto quickly made his way to the top of the class despite his disadvantage of being three years younger than the rest. The first week of the ninjutsu classes was spent learning how to harness their chakra, then up to now, the class had focused on learning the twelve basic hand seals and increasing both their speed at drawing on their chakra and chaining hand seals.

However, what Naruto loved most were the classes on trap making and using weapons… simply because he knew how important those two were when taking on a hunter. Right now though, it was the weapon usage class that was occurring and the instructor was about to teach them about a new weapon.

"Alright class, can anyone tell me what this is called?" the cheerful instructor asked as he held up a small slip of paper with an intricate design drawn on it.

"A sheet of paper!" one of the Jokers in the class shouted out, earning an exasperated sigh from the Chūnin.

"This, children is known as an exploding tag… simply by channelling a small amount of chakra into it, you can cause it to explode and seriously injure your enemy, it is the most basic Fūinjutsu you will ever come across," Naruto perked up on hearing this… if exploding tags were the most basic form of this Fūinjutsu, then what else could it do.

So he waited. He waited until the class had left for lunch before approaching the Chūnin about it.

"Um excuse me Daikokua-sensei?"

"Yes Naruto, what do you want?" the chubby man asked, after all, the child had never really spoken during class except to answer questions.

"I was wondering about Fūinjutsu," the four year old started, only to get cut off by the older man.

"I can't tell you anything more than that Fūinjutsu involves writing seals to do certain tasks, above that I don't know anything about it," the teacher told the young child.

"Sorry Daikokua-sensei."

"You have nothing to feel sorry about, you can't learn properly if you don't ask questions, now go and get something to eat before your next lesson starts."

"Thanks sensei," the blond said as he left the room for lunch.

XXX

By the end of the day, Naruto was beginning to get frustrated, none of the academy instructors knew anything more than Daikokua did about Fūinjutsu.

So as with everything else, he decided he needed to ask the old man about it.

"Hey Jiji."

"Ah Naruto-kun, it's been awhile since you last came to see me, how is the academy going?" the old man asked kindly.

"Hehe, sorry Jiji, I've just been busy trying to get strong! I'm doing great at the academy, I'm top of the class," he exclaimed with pride.

"That is VERY impressive Naruto-kun, if you carry on like that you might be allowed to graduate early," the aged Kage stated with a smile.

"Huh? Why would I want to graduate early? Wouldn't I learn more if I stayed at the academy?"

"Naruto-kun… the academy is there to teach children the basics required for both being a ninja and any other profession, just in case they decide they don't want to be a ninja… a shinobi's real training starts when they graduate and start taking missions under their Jōnin sensei," the Hokage explained to the young wannabe hunter.

"Then, I'll just have to graduate early!" Naruto exclaimed with determination.

"Hehe, I'm sure you will Naruto-kun."

"Oh yeah, Daikokua-sensei said exploding tags were the most basic form of Fūinjutsu, I was wondering what else Fūinjutsu can do?"

Sarutobi froze… did he tell the blond and risk him doing something to the seal, or lie and risk losing the blond when he eventually did figure it out… it didn't take him that long to decide.

"(sigh) Fūinjutsu can do two things Naruto-kun, store chakra or force chakra to flow in a certain way to do something within reason."

"Like hand seals?"

"Exactly… however, due to the fact Fūinjutsu relies on writing, which can have an infinite number of forms, it is a MUCH more difficult art than ninjutsu," the Hokage said, proud of his explanation and the fact that the four year old had managed to understand it.

"Can you teach me?"

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun… but I don't have the time to teach you," the old man said, causing the child's face to fall, "however, Tessai knows a thing or two about seals, so he might be willing to teach you the basics."

"Thanks Jiji!" the blond shouted from the door way as he vanished from the room.

"…"

"…"

"Wow… he certainly can move fast when he's excited."

XXX

Tessai was bored… he didn't really get many customers… so he usually spent most of his time either making weapons or helping his wife look after their three year old daughter... who had attempted to climb into the furnace on several occasions.

However right now, he had too much stock as it was and his wife had taken their daughter to one of the parks that HADN'T sunk into the ground.

"Hello, Tessai-san?" a childish voice called from the front door, revealing the child the Hokage had taken to the store just over a month ago.

"Hello, Naruto was it? How can I help you?" the man asked the blond.

"Hehe, Jiji said you could teach me Fūinjutsu," the four year said excitedly.

Tessai was about to open his mouth and deny the kid, when he suddenly remembered how bored he was, "alright gaki, I'll teach you but if a customer shows up, they come first understand?"

"YATTA! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" the spiky haired youth shouted, jumping up and down in his excitement.

"Alright gaki, get over here and pay attention," and with that, Naruto's training in the art of Fūinjutsu began.

XXX

Training ground 44, also known as the forest of death, was home to countless species of exceptionally large and dangerous animals, that regularly grew to sizes much greater than anywhere else in Hi no Kuni.

Mitarashi Anko was one of the only people that dared enter the dense jungle… and right now she was wondering about what sort of psychopath had decided to play in the woods.

Looking at the scene before her, she knew one thing… whoever did it was NOT normal. Staring straight at her was one of the forests tigers… a monster that measured seven foot at the shoulder and well over a thousand pounds of pure muscle… and right now, it was strung up from its hind legs at a height of roughly thirty feet, while it's skin and fur rested on the ground below. However, it was the fact that it was no longer in possession of its own skull that caught Anko's attention, that combined with the fact that she couldn't find it anywhere meant only one thing in her mind… whatever did this, did it for a trophy.

Deciding that the Hokage needed to know about this, she left the area, unaware of the shadow watching her.

After she had finally left the butchering, the shadow moved towards the corpse, the shimmering light that indicated its position fading as it's form was revealed.

Standing at a little over four foot tall, while wearing a mesh shirt and brown pants, with its head covered by a helmet that hid all its facial features, with gloves that each had a metal back plate and sharp, metal tips to the fingers. Its muscles were large for its height and combined with the bladed gauntlet strapped to its right forearm, it was quite intimidating for its height, but despite all that, it was the still bloodied skull strapped to its back that gave the most cause for concern.

"Damn… that thing sure was heavy… the amount of chakra I had to use to take it up there was ridiculous," a distorted voice said as it looked at its handy work, "I can't believe how good the Meisaigakure no Jutsu is for hiding… then again, the amount of concentration it normally requires is unreal… good thing I managed to translate it into a seal," it said caressing a rectangular box on its left arm.

Removing its mask, the being revealed a lean face, framed by spiky blond hair, while a set of whisker marks were etched into his cheeks.

It had been three years since Naruto had started the academy and due to his talent and hard work, he was just about to start his last year, joining the group that was due to graduate later in the year.

Of course, the fact that he was four years younger than the rest of the class wouldn't help, but thanks to working for Tessai after learning the basics of Fūinjutsu, his physical conditioning was ridiculously good for his age… after all, not many children can say that they work with a blacksmith doing LOTS of heavy lifting on a daily basis.

Plus the fact that he was a Taijutsu specialist, not speed type like that strange man that wore green spandex, but more of a power and grappling type, like the hunters.

Then his stealth was incredibly good, courtesy of stealth training while wearing the brightest clothing he could find… oh god how he hated that jumpsuit but it served its purpose in making him stealthier than most ANBU.

His ninjutsu was the top of the class as well… but only because the techniques were simple and he easily converted them into seal form… not that anyone except the Hokage and Tessai knew that.

Naruto had met Tessai's wife and daughter one day and was immediately made to feel welcome, hell they even took him to see a movie when their daughter, Tenten, turned five… that was possibly the most comforting day of his life… the day he found out films weren't real.

He still remembered the feeling of losing the weight of the world when he discovered that the 'hunters' and 'serpents' were just figments of someone's imagination, designed to entertain people with a fake world, full of scares and violence… he also remembered losing his purpose.

Up until that day, he had trained and learned in order to make sure he was strong enough to protect everyone from the monsters… and then, it simply didn't matter. The monsters didn't even exist for him to protect people from… he remembered feeling, hollow, as he tried to think of what to do with his life.

He found the answer by watching the films again… this time with an appreciation that they were fake. Watching them with that knowledge in mind, he couldn't help but think one thing when he watched the hunters… cool.

So now, instead of trying to beat them, he was trying to emulate them. Of course, the fact that he had already started copying them in an attempt to beat them helped greatly, especially with his disk, collapsible spear, bladed gauntlets and mask.

The young blond had proven his skill with seals when he added them to his equipment, especially with his mask and cloaking device.

There were several seals on the mask, one which distorted his voice, while another reinforced the metal it was made of, another that made the metal like a one way window, you could see out of it, but not in it, while three others used chakra to amplify certain wavelengths of light while cutting out others… that had been absolute hell to figure out, considering that the only thing he had to go on was a bunch of films… but the results were worth it, after all, being capable of seeing in infrared made hunting that much easier. The other two allowed him to see in the ultraviolet spectrum while the last one imitated the Uchiha clans sharingan and the Hyūga clans Byakugan, by letting him see chakra signatures.

The cloaking device was nothing more than an Iwagakure ninjutsu converted into seal form, making it MUCH easier to maintain.

Imitating the razor sharp disk from the second film was much easier than the others, all it required was to make a disk with holes for his fingers to fit in, while the outside was made from chakra conductive metal. Then there was of course the Fūton conversion seal on the handle, making all of the chakra channelled into it razor sharp, while simultaneously helping it fly.

The collapsible spear wasn't as collapsible as you would think, due to it using modified storage seals to keep most of it in a pocket dimension, while a Fūton conversion seal gave it a razor sharp edge.

The claws however used a simple yet effective spring lock system designed by Tessai, to give them the sudden ejection that they had in the movies. When Naruto flexed his wrist, the back plate of his glove was attached to a lever that released the blades, while a second lever, located on the back of the gauntlet was used to retract the claws. Of course, due to the possibility of the claws accidentally being released, there was a safety lock, that kept the blades in place even if they were released normally. All of that combined with the Fūton conversion seals located on the blades, made his gauntlet one of the most sophisticated weapons in Konoha.

Taking one last look at his latest kill, he placed his mask back on before leaving the area, ready to continue his work on the 'plasma caster'.

XXX

The 'plasma caster' as Naruto had dubbed it, was something the blond had been working on… and he could get it to work correctly by using a tube filled with chakra conductive metal, a Katon conversion seal and a 'Rasengan' seal. The Rasengan seal was a little something Naruto had come up with, it was a seal that forced chakra to spiral in several opposing directions, while using the momentum to keep itself spherical… that combined with the Katon conversion seal made a spiralling ball of fiery death for anyone unlucky enough to get hit by it, as the sphere was broken on impact, releasing a directional blast of concentrated fire into whatever it hit.

That combined with the seal that linked with the mask to pick out any irregularities and automatically aim at them, made the 'plasma caster' a truly dangerous weapon.

The problem however was simple… it used a shit load of chakra and although the fire was strong, it wasn't quite hot enough to guarantee the kill.

So as usual the blond asked the old man about ways to get LOTS of chakra quickly. Let's just say that the blond was surprised when he found out about a little something called Natural chakra. The idea that an infinite source of chakra existed all around him was something he HAD to try and take advantage of… so he started trying to create a seal that could collect the energy.

The first snag he had come across was simple… he had no way of knowing if he had succeeded in collecting the chakra or not, so he decided to add a raiton conversion seal to his arrays, so that the chakra sucked out of the atmosphere was immediately turned into electricity.

He was currently doing better than expected, after managing to create a small spark, he had proceeded to tweak the seal so as to achieve better results and right now he was still trying to get more than a couple of volts.

He knew though, that once he got the seal down, he would have a way of powering his ultimate weapon and making a name for himself as the ultimate hunter… that is, after he graduated the academy.


	4. Chapter 4

Inuzuka Hana was usually a calm individual, sure she occasionally got worked up just like any Inuzuka… but she was very relaxed and passive for one of her clan, especially one of her age. At only eleven years old she was just entering her final year of the ninja academy.

However right now her patience was being pushed to its limits as she sat in her seat waiting for the Chūnin instructor to show up, forcing her to endure the constant wailing of fangirls and overconfident boys looking to impress any girl by 'being the toughest'.

"Alright class quiet down," the random Chūnin instructor said as he entered the room, being completely ignored by the hyperactive children, "I SAID SHUT UP!" the teacher shouted using the genjutsu taught to every academy instructor… regularly referred to as the 'big head jutsu'.

"Now class, we're getting a new student this year, he's been nominated for early graduation so treat him like anyone else despite the age difference," the instructor stated, before the door opened to reveal a short blond with whisker marks etched into his face. He had forgone his usual orange jumpsuit under the reasoning that he didn't need the stealth training anymore. So he decided to wear his real attire, his 'hunter gear' as he dubbed it, this time with a basic ANBU chest plate with his incomplete 'plasma caster' attached to it, while he sealed his helmet into a storage seal on his cloaking device.

"Hello, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, I'm seven years old and my ambition is to become the world's greatest hunter-nin," he introduced himself.

"WHAT THE HELL?! HOW THE HELL DOES HE GET TO GRADUATE AT THAT AGE?!" a random student shouted out in anger.

"Because he's proven that he's capable enough to enter his final year… so don't treat him any differently to anyone else," the Chūnin explained, earning several growls from the many jealous males, "now then Naruto, why don't you tell us about your likes, dislikes and hobbies?"

"I like hunting, trophies and Fūinjutsu, I dislike dishonourable people, people who question my code of honour and traitors, my hobbies include hunting, crafting seals and creating new weapons for the hunt."

"Those last two seem a little advanced for someone of your age," the Chūnin stated sceptically.

"Believe what you want… where am I to sit?" Naruto asked calmly.

"I'm sure Hana over there would appreciate a little company," the instructor said as he pointed towards the young Inuzuka.

Naruto slowly made his way towards his designated seat, easily noticing the glare the girl was sending at the teacher while he observed her.

She was quite tall for her age and had long black hair tied back into a ponytail, while the typical Inuzuka clan tattoos adorned her face. However, what immediately caught the blonds' attention was the three puppies that sat next to her… he was certain that Inuzuka's normally only had one.

Sitting down next to her, he decided to make his intentions known, "don't bother me and I won't bother you."

"Deal."

The two sat in silence after that, until the class was taken outside for taijutsu practice.

"Alright, you all know the drill, two of you will fight each other using only taijutsu until a winner is determined… now the first match will be between Naruto and Donataka," the teacher said, causing Naruto and another student to enter the arena. The other student had short, dark green hair, light brown eyes and poorly defined muscles, he was the 'dobe' of the class, "Naruto, do you mind removing your armour?"

Without a word, the blond proceeded to remove all of his equipment and seal it in his cloaking device, before sealing it in a tattoo on his arm.

"Alright then, Hajime!" the Chūnin shouted before Donataka charged at the blond with a fist raised to strike. However, just as he threw his arm forward to strike the blond, his attack was redirected, before Naruto grabbed his neck, placed a foot behind the green haired student and pushed the dobe back, knocking him to the ground, before tightening his grip on the older boys neck.

Donataka's world was blurring as he felt his throat get crushed, before in a moment of clarity, he punched his aggressors throat… 'pathetic' was the only word he made out as the grip didn't even flinch and instead, began to pull him up.

The class was shocked… this new guy, that was only seven years old had just shrugged off a blow to the throat without so much as flinching and then… then he lifted his opponent off the ground… something none of them could do.

"That's enough! Shousha Naruto!" the Chūnin shouted, causing the blond to throw his opponent out of the arena, causing the brown eyed boy to start coughing as he gasped, finally getting the air he had been deprived of, "Naruto… that was unacceptable, you could have killed him," the instructor said sternly.

"And so can missions… if he isn't prepared to die, then he shouldn't be a ninja," the blond stated coldly before unsealing his equipment and sitting in a tree.

"Sensei… he's scaring me," a random girl said trembling at the blonds' realistic attitude.

"I think he's just what this class needs," Hana said, drawing everyone's attention to her, "what? He's realistic in his view of what being a ninja means, he ISN'T shouting and arguing all the time, he doesn't show off… he's what a ninja should be."

"No matter how much I hate to say it, Hana is right, he is acting more like a ninja than anyone else in this class," the instructor verified.

Listening to the exchange, Naruto couldn't help but give a small chuckle at the classes idealism.

XXX

"Hello Hana, how was the academy today?" Inuzuka Tsume asked when the young girl arrived home.

"Interesting," she claimed as she let her puppies loose on the Inuzuka compound.

"What happened?"

"A new kid joined the class."

"Why's that interesting?"

"He nearly killed the dobe in taijutsu practice."

"WHAT!"

"He stopped as soon as he was told to… he was just a little too… rough with the dobe's neck."

"He sounds scary Oneechan," a young boy, a couple of years younger than Naruto said as he petted one of Hana's puppies.

"Do you want to know the REALLY scary part Kiba?"

"What's the really scary part?" Tsume asked with narrowed eyes.

"He's only two years older than you," Hana stated as she pointed at Kiba.

"WHAT?!"

"I know… it's unbelievable that a kid that age is that strong… and have such a clear idea of what he wants to do with his life."

"What's his goal?"

"To become the world's greatest hunter nin."

"He does sound interesting…"

"Yeah… the best part is that he doesn't speak unless spoken to… so I don't have to put up with any more childish arguments and screaming," she claimed before leaving to get some extra training in.

XXX

"FINALLY!" he'd finally done it… he had finally managed to get the seal to absorb enough natural chakra to power it.

Applying the seal to the 'plasma caster', he proceeded to test the speed of the shot against one of the creatures in his 'playground'.

Placing his helmet on and activating the thermal imaging seal, he proceeded to follow the spots of red that littered the forest, before catching up to one of them… and finding a large bear, not as big as the tiger he killed earlier in the week, but still pretty big.

Locking onto the beast, he activated the 'plasma caster', the speed of which it fired shocking the blond, as a spiralling ball of WHITE HOT fire shot at the bear, before vaporising a hole in the beasts chest, while simultaneously cooking the surrounding flesh.

The bear fell down, dead from the shock caused by the injury.

"Holy shit…" the blond said as he looked at the gaping hole in the beasts chest, before snapping out of his stupor and grabbing its leg… before using chakra to reinforce his muscles and digging the claws of his gauntlet into a tree, before proceeding to slowly climb the massive tree, with his kill trailing behind him, before reaching a high enough branch, where he proceeded to skin it, before removing its skull and tying it up, before letting it fall, just like the tiger.

Strapping the skull to his back, the blond proceeded to activate his cloaking device, before taking his trophy home to prepare for mounting.

XXX

Sarutobi Hiruzen was concerned… if what Anko said was true, then there was a dangerous individual killing the inhabitants of training ground 44. The death of the creatures didn't matter… it was the possibility of the person starting to hunt the examinees that entered the forest… or worse yet, Anko.

While most of Konoha didn't like her because she was trained by the traitorous Orochimaru, her skills as an interrogator were second only to Morino Ibiki's and Yamanaka Inoichi, however combine that with her expert tracking and assassination skills and she was one of the leafs greatest assets.

So he aged leader had ordered her to avoid the forest until the matter with the stranger was resolved. While she had attempted to argue a case, he had stood firm and in the end, she agreed, if only because he was her commanding officer.

He knew he was forgetting something, but he couldn't figure it out. He knew that there was someone he was forgetting to tell… then it struck him, the one person other than Anko that called training ground 44 'a playground', one of the small number of people he could not live with seeing dead, "Naruto," was the only word that escaped his lips, before he rushed to make sure the blond was alright.

XXX

Naruto was standing over his bath with a kunai in one hand and a scrubbing brush in the other, while the tub was filled to the brim with warm water… and a bloody skull.

Bringing the kunai to a piece of flesh that was still clinging to the oversized skull, the child began to shave off the gore, with slow and meticulous stokes, each made to cut off as much of the flesh without chipping the bone… after all, a damaged trophy is worthless.

Once all of the flesh was removed from the skull, the blond proceeded to change the water, before scrubbing the structure with his brush, ensuring it was perfectly clean. Once the bone was ready, the young blond removed it from the bath to let it dry… before applying a thin layer of polish to it, giving it the slightly shiny appearance it had in the movies.

Just as he was moving the skull to his living room for mounting, there was a loud knock on the door.

"Just a minute," he called out as he proceeded to place the trophy on a lamp he had modified to act as a mount.

"Oh hey Jiji, what'cha doing here?" the whiskered child asked after opening the door.

"I need to talk with you about training ground 44," the old man said after letting out a sigh of relief at managing to get the blond.

"If you want me to stop hunting the predators… then no," Naruto said, throwing the Hokage off his current course of action.

"What do you mean hunting the predators?"

"Let's see… how about the tiger that woman in the trenchcoat told you about?" the blond stated, causing the aged leaders eyes to widen at the comment.

"Are you saying that you were the one to mutilate that tiger?"

"I prefer the term, prepare to make a trophy," the child claimed, opening the door wider, giving the Kage a direct view of his trophies.

"(sigh) I see… I won't stop you from continuing your 'hunting' however I must tell you that should you attempt to kill any citizen of Konoha, you WILL be punished, do I make myself clear?"

"Not quite… you said if I attempt to KILL any Konoha citizen, what about testing the survival skills of those ANBU trainees that occasionally show up in the forest?"

"What do you mean 'test their survival skills'?"

"Hunt them using non-lethal methods."

"How good are you at hunting?" the aged Kage asked, curious of the blonds' skill.

"Let's put it this way, that woman that wears the trenchcoat was only a couple of feet away from me and still completely missed me," the blond told him, earning a look of pure shock from the leader.

"I see, then perhaps you can test their survival skills," Sarutobi said, quickly snapping out of his shock.

"Yeah… oh by the way, who was that woman anyway?"

"That Naruto-kun, was Mitarashi Anko, one of our top interrogators, assassins and trackers," the old man explained to the blond.

"Okay… so she's a good ninja… is she likely to try and kill me if I say hi?"

"Heh, probably."

"…"

"OH SHIT!" Naruto shouted out as his face took on a slightly panicked look, "I completely forgot about my homework! Sorry Jiji gotta go," the blond claimed before slamming the door shut to complete the homework he had completely forgotten about thanks to his success with the seal.

"Hehe, kids."

XXX

"Today we'll start taijutsu practice with Hana and Naruto, please proceed to the ring," the Chūnin instructor said as the class collected in one of the academy training fields the next day.

Standing facing each other, Hana spoke, "don't take me lightly because I'm a girl," as she got into her family taijutsu stance.

"I'm four years younger than you… do you really think I'll judge by appearance?"

"Point taken."

"Hajime!" and with that call from the teacher, Hana charged. Keeping low, she proceeded to swipe at the blonds legs, only to yelp in surprise as she almost rushed head first into his raising foot.

Halting her advance before jumping away, she was shocked when the blonds fist was planted straight in her stomach, knocking her back and allowing the blond to deliver a devastating blow to the side of her face, sending her face first into the ground.

"No way… isn't Hana the best in the class at taijutsu?" one random student asked as they watched her get beaten down by the new guy.

Grabbing the Inuzuka by her collar, Naruto proceeded to lift her off the ground, before he was rewarded with a knee to the gut.

"Heh… you definitely hit harder than Donataka," the blond said with only a slight flinch from the blow, before he proceeded to slug the girl in the stomach again before throwing her out of the ring, where she proceeded to cough from the blows.

"Shousha Naruto…"

There was silence as Naruto proceeded to unseal his equipment before resting in a tree like he usually did.

XXX

"Did anything interesting happen at the academy today?" Tsume asked as Hana walked through the front door and put the puppies down.

"I fought the new guy during taijutsu practice today," she answered, her tone depressed.

"What happened?" the older woman asked concerned about her daughters well being.

"I didn't stand a chance… he might be four years younger than me, but he's built like a rock and hits like one to."

"Is that all?"

"Huh?"

"From the way you were talking I thought something bad happened."

"You don't call getting beaten down bad?"

"No I don't… I remember when I was on my genin team, I was always getting beaten down by Hiashi but that just helped me learn and become a better fighter… I'm pretty sure you can learn from your losses as well," Tsume said calmly.

"…"

"I'm going to go and train, see ya later," the young girl called out as she left the house for one of the clans training grounds.

"Kaasan, did you really get beaten?" Kiba asked childishly.

"Yes Kiba… I did," she answered before starting to make dinner.


	5. Chapter 5

"Dammit! What the hell was that thing?" a single masked ninja asked as he looked at the other two members of his team. Their job was simple, kidnap a merchant that had refused to serve their client and make him understand that denying them was a BIG mistake. The mission was officially A-rank due to the risk of being found by the ninja of the village the merchant lived and because of that risk, they were sent. They were considered THE best Iwa had to offer when it came down to infiltration missions. The team consisted of three men and one woman, each specializing in stealth and one other skill, interrogation, demolitions, infiltration and assassination.

However they weren't prepared for the… thing, that they encountered, losing a member of their squad before they even knew it was there.

Panting from running as hard as they had, the leader gave out new orders, "alright, be on the lookout for anything suspicious, if it isn't normal, kill it!"

"Hai taishou," came the immediately reply before a large red object was suddenly swung between them.

The three ninja took a small jump away from the hanging object, before analysing it.

"Holy shit… that's… that's just fucking sick!" the lower ranking male almost shouted when he realised what had just been thrown between them.

"W-what sort of monster would skin a person?" the konoichi asked, disgust filling her voice as she looked at their fallen comrade that was hung like a piece of meat in an abattoir.

"That's not all… his skulls missing," the leader of the group said trying to keep his emotions in check as he stared at the corpse of a man he had considered a brother.

"Taishou, there are some marks on your chest plate!" the lower ranked male shouted as he noticed a trio of red dots appear on his leaders chest.

"What are you talking," the man was cut off as a ball of white hot fire collided with him, exploding through him and clearing his chest cavity of several vital organs… however he never hit the ground.

The two remaining ANBU could only watch in terror as their dead leaders body refused to fall, before the sound of rubbing metal assaulted their ears and the dead body's head was suddenly removed with a clean cut.

The survivors suddenly snapped back to their senses and ran as fast as they could, before there was the sound of a snapping twig and the man suddenly found himself trapped in a net that sprung from beneath him.

Straight off the bat, the Konoichi realised something that her surviving teammate didn't… the net was slowly cutting through his armour.

Thinking quickly, she proceeded to throw a kunai at the large net, hoping to cut him free, only for it to harmlessly bounce off the dangerous material.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! TRYING TO KILL ME?!" the last man shouted before upping his struggling, only noticing the sharpness of the wire when it began to dig into his flesh, "SHIT! I'M SORRY! HELP!"

"Hang on, I'll try something different," she shouted, this time aiming a kunai at the branch the net was suspended from. However before she could cut down the branch, a harsh blow connected with the side of her face, sending her crashing into a tree before she felt something pin her throat to the harsh bark.

Unable to breath, her last sight before her world went black was that of her last teammate falling through the netting, his body no longer recognisable as even being human.

XXX

Mitarashi Anko was bored. She hadn't had any good interrogations for at least a month and she was beginning to get agitated.

Suddenly the door burst open revealing a masked child wearing a mesh shirt and strange armour. However what caught her attention was the ANBU slung over his shoulder, for the simple fact that they were NOT wearing Konoha issue armour.

"So what do we have here gaki?" she asked as she took the tied and gagged ANBU off the blond.

"I was doing a couple of laps around Konoha when I saw a team of foreign ANBU scheming… so I decided to have a little fun," the blond child said through the voice distorting mask.

"I take it then that she's the only survivor," Anko stated as she proceeded to place her new playmate in a cell.

"You know me well enough to know that my quarry doesn't survive unless I want it to."

And so she did. She still remembered her first meeting with the blond and how he toyed with her, hunting her like a jaguar hunts a monkey. Sure she had tried to out hunt him, but he was one tricky son of a bitch and was always at least two steps ahead of her. In the end, she found herself hanging upside down and completely exhausted before he finally showed himself to her.

She wouldn't have forgiven him if he didn't humiliate the ANBU initiates more… she was particularly thankful he didn't hang her in the middle of Konoha's high street in nothing but her underwear like he did with one particular group that made his hunt boring simply by being that crap.

"So then… am I going to have a panicking Chūnin barging in here with talk about mutilated bodies like the last time you stumbled across a foreign nin?"

"It's highly likely," the blond deadpanned, before turning his head to the door, "I take that back… it's happening now."

And just as he made his prediction, the door flew open, revealing a young and panting Chūnin, "Anko-sempai! There have been several bodies found on the outskirts of Konoha," he didn't get to finish before the purple haired Konoichi finished for him.

"mutilated beyond recognition, yes I know," she stated casually.

"Huh? How did you know already?"

"Because this," she stated pointing at the young blond, "is the psycho that did it… and brought me a new play toy."

The Chūnin stared at the masked blond with a sceptical eye for several seconds.

"What? Do you want me to remove your skull as well?" the young blond asked, snapping the older man out of his musings.

"Uh right… anyway, if you already know then I'll leave now," the now slightly nervous Chūnin said before backing out of the door, closing it behind him.

"So… now that you've finished terrorising little Chūnin, don't you think it's time you went to class? I know you might get up early but the academy starts in 15 minutes and if I remember correctly, today's the day of the graduation exam," Anko told the little masked child.

"Is it that late already? Damn, anyway, it was nice seeing ya again Anko," the homicidal child said before charging out the front door.

"Heh… he's definitely fun to have around, but now, it's play time," the purple haired Konoichi muttered to herself before picking up a rather viscous looking implement and making her way to the cell she put the intruder in.

XXX

"Uzumaki Naruto," the Chūnin instructor called out during roll call, "Uzumaki Naruto?"

Suddenly the door burst open revealing the unmasked blond.

"Sorry I'm late, I got preoccupied with something," Naruto said as he stood in the doorway.

"That's quite alright Naruto, just take your seat and try to not be too late when you're an actual ninja," the instructor replied kindly.

"Thank you sensei," he said taking his usual seat next to Hana.

"So, why do you smell like blood?" the older girl asked too quiet for anyone to hear.

"I had a run in with some… uninvited guests."

"Alright class, the first part of the exam is a written test, you have one hour starting from when I say and cheating results in immediately disqualification," the teacher said before his temporary assistant handed out the question papers, before starting a timer, "your time starts now."

The written sections were always Naruto's worst areas, having been forced to learn to read and write on his own, however he still found the exam easy, easily finishing it before 40 minutes had passed.

Waiting for the end of the written section, Naruto simply sat quietly after turning his paper over .

"Alright, your time is up, stop writing and go to the testing grounds," the Chūnin ordered, earning several groans from students that hadn't finished their tests.

XXX

With the entire class outside, Naruto took to his usual perch as the instructor began giving out instructions for the physical examination.

"Now for this exam your objective is simply to land one direct hit on me within three minutes."

Quietly observing the attempts from the other members of the class, Naruto was completely unsurprised when everyone managed to land a hit, mainly because he immediately realised that the instructor was going easy on all of them.

"Naruto, your next."

Silently dropping from the branch he was in, the blond proceeded to make his way to the arena, before facing off against the older man.

"Hajime," and with that call, the Chūnin charged the blond, fully expecting him to take the blow in order to land one, which was why he was caught off guard when his target dodged and landed a simple slug to the older nin's stomach.

"Cough, alright, that's enough Naruto," the Chūnin coughed out still amazed at the blonds strength considering his age.

Making no indication that he heard the examiner, Naruto simply left the arena before returning to his perch to watch the rest of the students make their attempts.

XXX

It was finally the last section of the exam, a simple test to see if the students could use one of the basic academy ninjutsu.

One by one, the class was called into a separate testing room, before they either came out with or without a hitae-ate.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the call for him finally came and he calmly walked into the room, where he was greeted with the sight of the Chūnin instructor and his assistant seated behind a small desk.

"Alright Naruto, to pass this section of the exam, all you have to do is use a basic henge, you will be graded on the accuracy of the image and the length of time required for you to perform it, now please begin," the instructor informed him.

Using a single handseal, Naruto proceeded to transform into a perfect copy of the Hokage, even down to every last liver spot… and his pipe.

"That is very impressive Naruto, congratulations, it is now my pleasure to give you your hitae-ate and welcome you to the ranks of Konoha's ninja force," the Chūnin said happily, handing the blond one of the many hitae-ate that were prepared for the graduates, "oh and before I forget, Hokage-sama wants to see you now that you're a genin."

"Should I go now or later?"

"You can go now, but remember to get your photo taken for your licence tomorrow."

"Thank you sensei," the blond said before leaving the examination room and walking straight through the classroom and out the door, prompting several people to begin questioning why he didn't stay when he had a hitae-ate.

XXX

The Hokage was waiting in his office for the young blond. He had contemplated it for a long time and despite his concerns of how the blond would take it, he knew that he had to tell him sooner or later and from what he had heard about the boy since discovering his… extracurricular activities, it would be better if he told him sooner.

Hearing a knock on the door, he faced the entrance, before it opened to reveal the armoured blond, wearing his brand new hitae-ate as a belt.

"You wanted to see me Jiji," came his innocent response. If it wasn't for knowing what the blond was capable of doing to his enemies, the old man would've assumed he was just a normal kid.

"Indeed I do Naruto-kun, please sit down," obeying his grandfather figures orders, Naruto proceeded to take a seat facing the aged Kage, "now first things first, there is a secret I've been keeping from you, but since you are a genin now, I've decided that I need to tell you."

"(sigh) it's about the containment seal on my stomach isn't it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"So what's in it?"

"The Kyūbi no kitsune."

"Damn… I have something that important in me… wow, I feel kinda proud," the young blond said with a faraway look in his eyes.

"You feel proud?" Sarutobi asked, caught completely off guard by the comment.

"Yeah, the idea that the Yondaime would entrust such an important task to me is really something."

Sarutobi was shocked, Naruto was taking the news better than he had dreamed of. Not only was he not angry with it being kept from him, but he actually considered it an honour to be made to house the beast that tried to level Konoha eight years ago.

"So now that the first part of the agenda's over, what's the next part?" Naruto asked the stunned old man.

"Oh, sorry, the other point of call is simply that I want you to go to this address and ask for a man called Inoichi, he'll take it from there," the Hokage told him, giving him a piece of paper with an address written on it.

"Inoichi… as in the Yamanaka clan head and Konoha's top psychiatrist?"

"That is correct Naruto-kun, I just want him to run some mental evaluations on you to make sure you aren't being influenced by the Kyūbi," the old man said without missing a beat. Truth be told he was actually more worried about the blonds hobbies, especially when he applied them to other humans… just like his former student.

"(sigh) fine then, see ya tomorrow jiji," the blond said, before pocketing the piece of paper and leaving the room, heading straight towards the address he had been given.

XXX

It was official, Naruto HATED psychiatric exams. He had just spent the last two HOURS answering questions, completing puzzles, looking at blots of ink and being shown grisly images and being gauged on his reactions.

Sure he understood that they wanted to get as complete a picture as they could but it sucked big time having to waste his time on those retarded tests when he could easily be preparing his newest trophies instead, speaking of which, he still hadn't had time to clean and polish them, so as usual, he went straight to his apartment to add another two skulls to his collection.

XXX

"And that concludes my report Hokage-sama," the tall blond known as Inoichi said, bowing slightly to the esteemed leader.

"I see… thank you for your time Inoichi, it is much appreciated."

"Not at all Hokage-sama, however I would like to ask your permission to re-evaluate Naruto every year."

"That is perfectly acceptable Inoichi, you are dismissed," the aged leader said, before the blond vanished via shunshin.

Inoichi's report had stated that Naruto possessed several sociopathic tendencies, however he also displayed a sort of hive mentality. To put it simply the chances of Naruto defecting were slim at worst, non-existent at best. However he would be best suited to a role in the village where he would be capable of hunting on a regular basis, otherwise he might begin to have a mental breakdown, since he had actually shown signs of addiction to hunting and trophies.

So all in all, he was the perfect candidate for the hunter-nin corps, the very section of Konoha's elite that he wanted to become the best of. The only problem with that was the rule that he himself had initiated within Konoha, that all genin must train under a Jōnin. What that meant was simple, Naruto would have to achieve the rank of Chūnin before he would be allowed to enter his dream profession.

XXX

Quietly placing his two newest trophies on their mounts, Naruto couldn't help but think about how to replicate a few pieces of the hunter equipment that he simply couldn't figure out, the net launcher and the dissolving liquid.

For the net launcher, he had figured out how to create the deadly net, but he couldn't figure out how to fire it like the hunters could, he had tried several different approaches, but they simply all proved ineffective.

Then there was the liquid. Sure he had managed to create a makeshift med kit that consisted of some superglue, bulldog clips and bandages, but he simply couldn't think of how to recreate the corrosive liquid that the hunters used on occasion, then it hit him.

He remembered hearing of the destructive properties of the legendary Kyūbi's chakra and just today he had learned that it was sealed within him. He knew that he would have to try and find a compromise with the demon if he wanted to turn its chakra into a liquid and use it to dissolve things, but he had to do what he had to do and if its terms were too expensive then he could easily just refuse the price and find another way to create the dissolvent.

Sitting down on his bed, Naruto began to meditate, searching for the foreign chakra near his navel in an attempt to reach the beast.


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto had to admit, he liked his mindscape.

A lush jungle littered with some of the hunters architecture, while at the centre of the expanse lay something he had no difficulty identifying… a pyramid.

Of course, possessing the hunters mentality, he easily figured that the large structure was where he was most likely to find his quarry.

Effortlessly making his way through the dense foliage, Naruto soon arrived at the massive structure, the entrance at its base easily visible to the sharp eyed hunter.

"Well, since this is my mind, I don't think I'll have to worry about anything other than the bijū," the blond muttered to himself as he waltzed into the massive doorway.

Taking a casual stroll through the large, haunting corridors would have made most people nervous, especially considering the occasional moving shadow that littered the place, however Naruto wasn't most people and quickly deducted what the movements were his mental defences, probably taking the form of the serpents… that would definitely scared the shit out of any invaders.

The young blond simply followed his intuition, deducting that it was probably the most accurate map of the place he could get… after all, it was his mind, even if he didn't consciously know where he was going, he knew subconsciously.

Finally reaching his destination, he saw a massive set of doors engraved with what could only be described as a picture of a fox with nine flowing tails. Pushing against the entrance, Naruto wasn't surprised when a booming voice shot out at him.

"**So my jailor has finally come to break me… go ahead, it's not like I can do anything from here."**

Looking at the massive beast, Naruto immediately noticed the method of restriction placed on it. There held suspended in mid air was the great Kyūbi, each of its limbs locked in place by solid shackles, each possessing what could only be described as a screw that pierced the monsters flesh and made escape impossible without inflicting serious upon itself. To make matters even worse for the giant Kitsune, there was an extra shackle wrapped around its neck, preventing it from attaining any form of rest.

However, it was the kitsune's eyes that Naruto noticed the most, for the simple fact that they possessed no hope, no anger, nothing… they were the eyes of something that had already died… he should know, he'd ripped that type of eye out more than most people had seen them.

"I'm not here to break you Kyūbi-san, I came here to see if we could come to an… agreement," the blue eyed blond said calmly as he walked towards a large control panel that the seal was engraved on.

"**And what sort of agreement would that be?"**

"It's simple, you see, I've heard about the corrosive nature of your chakra and due to that, I want to convert your chakra into a liquid that I can use to dispose of corpses," the hunter informed the red eyed beast while studying the seal.

"**You don't want my chakra to help you fight?"**

"No… you see, I don't actually NEED your chakra, it would simply prove to be the easiest way of creating a dissolvent," the blond stated, letting the kitsune understand the position they were in… while it could gain a lot from the deal, he could lose a lot from it and could easily just deny the red eyed beasts requests.

Suddenly the blond began tapping his fingers on the large seal, before a massive wrought iron gate dropped between the two, shocking the bijū, though, not as much as when the screws digging into the beasts limbs twisted, earning a roar of pain from the massive fox as it was released from the shackles.

"I'm sorry about that Kyūbi-san, however there was no other method of releasing you and I don't trust you enough to release you without some form of seal between us," Naruto stated as he turned away from the control panel to look in the fox's shocked eyes.

"**Why did you do that?"**

"I could have easily adjusted the seal to rip your chakra from you and give it to me, however, as I said before, I came here to make an arrangement with you, not torture you."

"**Why? I would've expected one of you Konoha humans to enjoy torturing me,"** the large kitsune stated from behind the cage as it proceeded to lick its injuries.

"I may be considered a psychopath by everyone that knows me, but I do possess a sense of honour as a hunter," Naruto responded before turning back to the control panel, causing the kitsune's eyes to widen with a trace amount of fear present within the glowing crimson orbs.

The massive bijū could do nothing more than look on in fear as the blond proceeded to make more adjustments to the seal, before it was suddenly assaulted by images. After the images had finished playing, the destructive beasts lips began to twitch, before it suddenly started to chuckle, which soon developed into full blown laughter.

"**I take it back, you are much more interesting than any other human I've ever met… you have a deal,"** Kyūbi stated as it realised what the blond showed it… his memories.

"Well then, I hope we can have a mutually beneficial partnership Kyūbi-san."

"**Indeed, though I do have a question for you Naruto-kun,"** the red eyed fox stated, earning a raised eyebrow off the young blond.

"May I ask why you are referring to me in such a familiar manner?"

"**Sorry, I guess I'm just happy to finally meet a human that I can respect without hating… every other human I've respected has done something to make me hate them. Anyway, I was wondering if you were aware that if you wish to make my chakra a liquid you will have to figure out how to do so yourself?"**

"Indeed, I already have an idea of how I can achieve the results I wish for… and one last thing, I've taken the liberties of installing an audiovisual system so you can see and hear what I do, plus we should also be capable of contacting each other should we wish to," the young seal master informed the bijū.

"**I see… that will definitely make my stay here more enjoyable, one more thing, are you planning on revealing your recreation of 'that' jutsu to the Hokage?"**

"I might… then again I might not, I don't particularly like that jutsu… it doesn't fit my style, if anything it is nothing more than a quick and easy way to get to somewhere I go regularly… I won't use it like the original creator did," the blue eyed blond stated calmly.

"**I see… however should I remind you just how many people would kill their best friend for the secret of that technique?"**

"I know… however as I said before, using it isn't something I intend to do for anything more than transportation, so most people shouldn't even realise that it is 'that' jutsu."

"**I understand, I just wanted to make sure you realised the implications of that technique."**

"You seem a little concerned about it."

"**Not as much as you think."**

"Heh, well then, I think I should get ready for tomorrow," the blond hunter said before he began to fade from the large room, leaving the giant kitsune alone again… until a wall lit up with images of the outside world for it to see.

"**Heh… you're definitely more accommodating than Kushina… Uzumaki Naruto."**

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto quickly realised just how obsessive at hunting he was when he had essentially packed for a two month long mission in the space of ten minutes… then again being capable of preparing himself that quickly meant that he could spend more time on his 'research'.

Taking a single, long sample tube he had purchased from the hospital for this very reason, he proceeded to cut his finger and let the blood fall into a bottle of ink, which he immediately mixed, before, with a flowing series of strokes, he drew a seal on the base of the cylinder before waiting for the design to dry.

Upon determining that the seal was dry enough, the blond proceeded to fill the tube with water, before closing it.

"_Alright Ky__ū__bi, can you lend me a small amount of your chakra?"_

"_**Heh, of course."**_

And with that said, the blond felt the warm, burning sensation of the fox's chakra flowing through his veins, before he collected it and forced it to flow through the seal. Immediately the once colourless water was bled blood red before the blond proceeded to walk over to a cage filled with dead rats he had kept for the sole reason of testing this on.

Opening the lid, he proceeded to pour the corrosive liquid on one of the corpses, his mouth forming a satisfied grin when it began dissolving the rats fur, skin, muscles, organs and even bones, leaving nothing of the target.

"Heh, mission success."

"_**I have to admit, I didn't think it would work first time."**_

"You're not the only one, but then again the theory behind this attempt was solid, converting your chakra into Suiton would allow it to mix with water but since it is still chakra, it still kept the corrosive properties it had initially."

"_**And just like my chakra, it is only corrosive to organic matter, so it can be stored in one of those tubs."**_

"Bingo."

"_**So are you going to try and get your net launcher to work now?"**_

"(sigh) do you have any ideas?"

"_**Well let's see… you've already tried firing it with F**__**ū**__**ton seals, but they just cause the net to fly randomly and get tangled up in itself, but what if you where to use very weak F**__**ū**__**ton seals in the pegs to blow them away from each other and force the net to open properly?"**_

"That could work, although it still wouldn't solve the problem of how to make the net contract after being fired."

"_**Why not just leave out the contraction? It's still a lethal weapon if it doesn't constrict the enemy so why worry about it?"**_

"That might be true… I guess I'll go with your idea, but if I ever get hit by inspiration then I'm going to try again," the blond stated.

"_**If you got hit by inspiration then I would annoy you until you had tried it out."**_

"Why?"

"_**Because watching your memories of your hunts was fun… and I really want to see what you'll do with more at your disposal."**_

"I see… anyway, it's late, I'm going to go to sleep now," the blue eyed blond stated before he proceeded to get some sleep.

XXX XXX XXX

The next day found the young blond sitting quietly in his usual seat next to Hana as he waited for the sensei to arrive and announce the team placements.

"Hey! Naruto!" came a loud call causing the hunter to let out an exasperated sigh.

"What do you want Donataka?" he asked not even bothering to look at the green haired boy.

"Hey come on, can't we talk a little before the teams are announced?"

"No."

"Oh come on, at least tell us why you left early yesterday," the dobe pried.

"No."

"Come one."

"No."

"Please," the brown eyed boy pleaded with what could only be described as puppy dog eyes.

"If you want me to rip your eyes out then keep doing that," the armoured eight year old stated coldly, causing the older boy to back away.

"(sigh) fine then, be like that, you'll be sorry when I kick your ass!"

"Kick his ass? Like that'll ever happen," came the degrading tone of Hana, causing the grass haired boy to turn an angry gaze to her.

"Will you all quiet down and shut up!" came the stern call from the front of the room as the Chūnin instructor finally made his presence known.

Naruto decided to tune out most of the instructors speech… it was probably nothing more than a simple 'I'm proud of each and every one of you for passing the exam and becoming ninja', however he tuned back in once he heard the teams being announced.

"Team four will consist of Inuzuka Hana, Atemonai Donataka and Uzumaki Naruto," the instructor completed before the blond tuned him out once again.

Once all the teams had been announced, the class was given an hour for their lunch before they were supposed to meet back at the academy.

"_**I'll admit, that Dona-baka certainly is annoying… I mean why won't he leave you alone?" **_Kyūbi asked from its cage as the green haired deadlast proceeded to follow the blond to his regular haunt… the ramen stand.

"Hey there Naruto, is that a friend of yours?" the middle aged owner asked as the brown eyed boy proceeded to shout at the blond in an attempt to start a conversation.

"Just an annoying acquaintance," came the whiskered hunters cold reply, earning a string of obscenities from the angered teammate.

"Hey! Watch your mouth, you're scaring away my customers!" the chef shouted at the green haired boy.

"Waah, sorry, sorry, sorry!" came the cowardly reply from the annoying child.

"I'll have two large miso's with extra pork," the blue eyed genin stated calmly, completely unfazed by the older man's dangerous aura.

"Coming right up," and suddenly it was gone and replaced with a kind and gentle aura, which further scared the green haired genin due to the sudden 180 the old man's personality underwent.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto had to admit… he hadn't expected to get 'her' as his sensei, not that he was complaining, but it was unexpected considering that she had only just been promoted to Tokubetsu Jōnin and wasn't even a full Jōnin.

"Alright Gaki's! The name's Mitarashi Anko and you had better remember it!" the purple haired woman shouted at the trio of genin that made up team four.

"I have a question," the youngest of the trio stated, causing the woman to blink.

"What is it?"

"Why are you our sensei? If I remember correctly you've only recently been promoted to Tokubetsu Jōnin and the sensei assigned to a genin team is usually a full Jōnin, so I was just wondering why you are our sensei," Naruto stated, causing the oldest woman to give him a blank stare, while his teammates looked at him in confusion.

"Uh, Naruto, are you saying you know this woman?" Hana asked.

"We've met on several occasions… she's considered one of Konoha's best interrogators, trackers and assassins and spends most of her time in either T&I or training ground 44," the armoured blond informed his team mates calmly.

"That's right, and to answer your question… I don't know, the old man just said something about trophies and desensitisation and left it at that," the purple haired konoichi claimed, confusing two of the genin while Naruto simply rolled his eyes when he easily figured out what the old man was on about, "anyway, you two, tell me about yourselves!" she ordered pointing towards Hana and Donataka.

"My name is Inuzuka Hana, I like all types of animal and dislike lots of noise and people that abuse animals, my goal is to become a strong konoichi and a top class vet," the young girl stated proudly, before the green haired boy started his introduction.

"The names Atemonai Donataka! I like cool jutsu and hot chicks-ARRGGHHH!" he didn't get to finish his introduction as he found a pissed off sensei's foot in his face before she began stamping on his gut.

"Mitarashi-san, I don't think Hokage-sama will be particularly happy is you kill the baka," came the bored statement from the young blond, causing the angry woman to remove her foot from the currently sobbing genin's stomach and moving back to her original place.

"Now listen here Gaki, if I hear you refer to woman like that again, you will NEVER be capable of having children! Do you understand!"

"H-Hai sensei," came the quiet cry of the terrified genin.

"Now finish your introduction," the purple haired tokubetsu Jōnin said as she sat back down.

"I'm too scared to now."

"(sigh) fine then… well we're going to be starting missions tomorrow, so use the rest of the day for whatever you want and meet me at training ground 44 tomorrow at seven, dismissed," and with that said, the woman vanished in a swirl of leaves and Naruto simply jumped off the building they were sitting on the top of, leaving a pair of gobsmacked genin to stare into space.


	7. Chapter 7

Donataka couldn't believe what he was seeing. The training ground they were going to be using was HUGE… and scary. Seriously he never imagined a place like this existed in Konoha. Fenced off from the rest of the village was a giant forest, each tree at least the same height as the Hokage's tower and because of the size of the giant trees the level of light that made its way into the area was very small.

"Hey gaki, get your ass over here!" came a loud call from near the fence, causing the green haired boy to look over and see Hana and their sensei calmly sitting (and in Anko's case, eating) before he ran over to them.

"Sorry I'm late, but where's Naruto?" came the confused response from the grass haired boy as he looked around for the final member of the team.

"Probably in the training ground already," the purple haired konoichi stated calmly, causing both genin to look at her sceptically, "what? That brat's always doing something in there."

"You expect us to believe that?" Donataka asked disbelievingly as he simply stared at the older woman.

"Don't care if you do," came the callous response from the woman who simply brought out a box of dango and started to snack on some.

"Eh… what are we actually going to do?" the grass haired boy asked upon deciding that his new sensei didn't really care what he thought.

"Oh that's simple, we're going to wait for Naruto to show up before heading off for a simple D-rank mission," the dumpling chewing tokubetsu Jōnin stated calmly.

"A mission?" came the grass haired boy's blank statement, earning a nod off the older woman, "HELL YEAH! MY FIRST MISSION!"

"Will you shut up Donataka… D-ranks are better known as household chores," came a distorted voice from above the group, causing Hana and the deadlast to look towards the voice and see a sight they never thought they'd see… their other teammate standing on the top of the fence with a VERY large, white object covered in blood strapped to his back.

"Wha?" was all that the green haired boy could get out of his mouth as he tried to figure out what was attached to the masked blonds back.

"Gaki… please stop killing the predators in there, we actually want enough left to call it the forest of death," Anko muttered with a hint of annoyance in her voice, causing the masked child to simply stare at her… she was certain that if he didn't have the mask on then his expression would be blank.

"So that's what you meant when you said you liked hunting back when you came to our class," Hana said as she tried her hardest to stop herself from throwing up at the scene in front of her… it wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't been raised with the ideals that animals are comrades.

"Is there a problem? Because if not then we really should get our mission before they're all taken," the hunter stated seriously earning a smirk off the oldest in the group.

"Alright! Now that Naruto's here, let's go get us a mission!" Anko shouted before turning to the blond, "oh and seal away that skull already!" cue a choking Donataka.

"Hai sensei," Naruto responded promptly before sealing away his trophy.

XXX XXX XXX

"Hey sensei?"

"What is it gaki?"

"We ARE ninja aren't we?"

"Yes."

"Then why the hell are we PAINTING A GODDAMN FENCE?!"

As you can probably guess, Donataka was not happy with the mission they had been assigned, which as you have probably guessed, was to paint a fence.

"Because in times of peace, we need this sort of mission to help build up the villages treasury, so by being hired for even minor chores, we are essentially preparing ourselves for war," Naruto stated as he finished his section and started to help Hana on hers.

"I was asking sensei not you!" the grass haired boy shouted at his younger teammate.

"And yet Naruto is right, war is a very expensive business, so by building up the villages treasury by doing minor missions like this, we can afford to perform any repairs required to both the village and the transport networks that are damaged during conflict," Anko confirmed for the deadlast.

"Huh?" was all the least intelligent of the group could manage to say upon the simple explanation.

"Just shut up and think of this as training," the trench coat wearing tokubetsu Jōnin ordered upon realising that the dumbest of her group would never understand it.

"Uh… how am I supposed to do that?"

"Use your imagination baka!" Hana snapped courtesy of her growing headache that was started by the grass haired boy.

"Oh come on! I just don't get why we have to do this shit instead of something proper!" Donataka complained childishly.

"It's because we are genin, the lowest of the low… only academy students are lower than us and they aren't even allowed to take missions!" the young girl shouted in anger, causing the idiot to cower behind Anko… before she literally threw him back into the firing range, "now just stop complaining and DO SOME FUCKING WORK ALREADY!"

And with that, the grass haired boy proceeded to shut his mouth and work like he was supposed to.

XXX XXX XXX

"So… you're saying that Naruto has captured a couple of enemy ninja over the past year?" Hana asked Anko as they sat at a table in a local dango stand with Naruto simply sitting silently. The trio had to admit that they were happy Donataka had chosen to go home for lunch (primarily because he had smelt horrible ever since Hana yelled at him).

"Yep," came the nonchalant response from the purple haired woman as she happily munched on a stick of dango.

"And you expect me to believe he wasn't taken out of the academy why?"

"Trust me, I'd like to know that as well," the tan coated woman admitted as the duo glanced at the blond that was savouring the taste of his lunch, a childish smile on his whiskered face… if it wasn't for the armour he would've looked just like a normal child.

"What?" was the only word to leave the blonds mouth as he pondered why they were looking at him.

"Nothing," both girls said at the same time before turning away from the young boy.

"_**You know, I think you might have a couple of fangirls… but then again you did look surprisingly kawai eating like that,"**_ Naruto heard in his head, easily dismissing what the kitsune said before his mind began to wander.

"Sensei, what qualifications do I need to join the hunter corp?" the young boy suddenly asked, causing the purple haired woman to turn towards him with a serious expression on her face for a change.

"If you want to become a hunter nin then you will need to first reach Chūnin, before handing in an application to the ANBU headquarters. If they believe you have the qualities they are looking for then you will be placed on a six month long specialised training course, where you will be taught EVERYTHING a hunter nin will ever need to know," Anko told him seriously, easily predicting the next question the blond was going to ask.

"What do I need to do to become a Chūnin?"

"To become a Chūnin, all you need to do is either pass the Chūnin selection exam that is held twice a year, or perform well enough in the field for Hokage-sama to give you a promotion there and then… however that second option only happens during wartime situations, so unless there is a war in the recent future, the chances are that you will have to pass the Chūnin exams," she told him calmly before munching on another stick of dango.

"I see… what do I need to do to be given a shot at the Chūnin exams?"

"(sigh) If you want to participate in the Chūnin exams, then the entire team will have to prove themselves before getting a recommendation from their sensei, so once you've got my recommendation, then you will be able to participate," Anko explained without any sign of amusement.

"Let me guess… that'll take a while because of our other teammate," the spiky haired blond said with a hint of exasperation in his tone.

"Yep."

Silence reigned as the trio proceeded to continue to eat.

XXX XXX XXX

Arriving back at his apartment, Naruto couldn't help but let out a sigh as he dropped to his bed, thinking about the 'training' session the team had after that first mission.

Anko had decided that it would be nothing more than a 'hunt'. Of course Naruto played the part of the hunter since that was what he was best at… though the others hadn't stood a chance against his superior skills, even if he didn't use any of his normal equipment.

So all in all, the day had proven very boring for him, with the only highlight being the bear he killed before meeting his team.

"_Speaking of which,"_ he thought before getting up and making his way to the bathroom to prepare his trophy.

His bathroom had changed slightly since he started hunting… in that the bathtub itself was stained a permanent crimson that Naruto couldn't clean no matter how hard he tried… he had thought about replacing it but decided that since he would just be using the new one for the same reason that it would be best if he simply left it alone. Besides, it wasn't as if he had anything against bathing in blood.

Running some warm water, Naruto proceeded to unseal the skull and place it within the tub, before pulling out an ornate blade. The weapon was the colour of bone and curved in a manner that made it perfect for peeling, while a series of seals were carved upon the material, giving it an intricate appearance.

It was something he had specially crafted for preparing his trophies, it's shape designed to make it harder to accidently chip the skulls when removing the flesh.

With his objective set, the armoured blond started to start his ritual preparation of his newest trophy.

XXX XXX XXX

The next several months passed quite slowly for team four, as the group was forced to listen to Donataka complain every day, before getting hunted by Naruto. The only time things were any different was when Anko decided to lock Hana and the deadlast in training ground 44 for a week, though Naruto didn't join them and the only objective was to survive.

Of course that week was even more boring for Naruto than normal due to not being allowed to enter his playground because of them… but he had to admit that their reactions upon exiting the forest were priceless… especially when they called the training ground an abattoir.

Despite everything, Naruto couldn't help but wish that a new ANBU team would hurry up and use the forest so he could get at least a half decent hunt for a change.

But given the luck he had had since becoming a genin, Naruto couldn't help but believe that he wasn't going to get one anytime soon.

XXX XXX XXX

"So Anko, how is Naruto coping with being a genin?" the Hokage asked the purple haired woman as they met to discuss the mental health of a certain child.

"(sigh) I'd say he's coping the best he can, but the fact that he isn't getting any good hunts now that training ground forty four is reserved for team four is really beginning to get to him," the brown eyed woman informed him seriously.

"I see… and how are his teammates doing?"

"Well honestly, I'd only call one of them his teammate… then again I don't think anyone would want Donataka as a teammate," the young woman muttered the last part quietly.

"Is there a problem with Donataka?" Sarutobi couldn't help but ask with curiosity in his voice.

"You mean other than the fact that he takes the meaning of 'deadlast' to a whole new level?" she answered in a slightly mocking tone.

"Is he really that bad?"

"He can't even understand the simple concept that war is expensive," came the response that shocked the sandaime.

"I see… but what I meant was how he and Hana are progressing in their skills," the aged leader explained to the woman.

"Well their survival skills are improving… but when you consider that their training so far has only been to try and evade Naruto in the forest, it's not really any surprise," Anko stated calmly, causing Hiruzen to let out a small sigh.

"I see… well then I have some new orders for you, " and with that statement, Anko immediately stood at attention, her focus solely on the old man, "you are to accelerate your teams training, I want them ready for a C-rank by the end of next month!"

"Hai Hokage-sama!" and with that said, the trenchcoat wearing woman disappeared from the office in a swirl of leaves.

XXX XXX XXX

"GODDAMMIT! WHERE THE HELL IS SENSEI?!" Donataka shouted angrily as team four waited for their sensei to arrive… what annoyed the other two however was the fact that she was only ten minutes late and he was already making a racket over it.

Suddenly the wind picked up in the training ground before the tokubetsu Jōnin appeared in a swirl of leaves.

"YOU'RE LATE!" the grass haired boy shouted only to find a foot embedded into his face courtesy of an angry woman.

"And how many times have you been late?! I'm pretty sure it's twenty seven times now!" the purple haired Konoichi responded violently, "besides, I was meeting Hokage-sama so I've a good reason ya little shit!"

"OWOWOW! I'M SORRY!" came the crying scream from the green haired boy before her foot was removed.

"Alright! Now that that is over with, I'll tell you this, Hokage-sama has given me new orders," and with that statement the rest of the team paid her extra attention, "from now on I am to accelerate your training, so we'll start with a little chakra control."

"Are we going to be climbing trees?" came a simple question from the masked blond.

"Yep, I take it you already know the exercise," Anko asked him without any surprise.

"Yeah, you use a certain amount of chakra to glue yourself to a tree and walk up it… I stumbled across it because of how much I climb them… usually dragging a corpse as well but that's not the point," Naruto admitted, causing his teammates to look at him strangely.

"Yeah, well you can do whatever you want while I get your teammates up to speed," Anko told him dismissively.

"Hey! How come he gets to do what he wants and we have to do this crappy exercise?" Donataka asked angrily.

"Because he is far beyond your level and my orders are to get you all ready for a C-rank… which he is more than ready for," the brown eyed woman told the idiot seriously, "now shut up and do as I tell you!"

"Y-yes sensei."

"_**You know I find it funny just how scared of Anko that idiot is," **_Kyūbi muttered within the blonds mind.

"_Yeah… he just doesn't understand her one bit,"_ Naruto admitted as he decided to go and pay the fox a visit to pass some time.I dIII


	8. Chapter 8

Donataka couldn't help but give a nervous swallow as he headed to training ground 44. It had been nearly a month since Anko had started the team on individual training and despite his best efforts, he was progressing slowly.

Hana was rapidly growing, learning the chakra control exercises in days when it took him weeks, which combined with the fact that she completely annihilated him in the area of taijutsu meant that her level was so far beyond his it was unreal.

He had taken three full weeks to complete the two chakra control exercises they had been given, his lack of talent showing through. What annoyed him the most however was that they expected him to do better than what he was managing. Unlike Hana, he wasn't a member of a ninja clan, he was just a civilian that had chosen to become a ninja and he was trying his best… unfortunately his best wasn't good enough for his teammates.

Or rather, it wasn't good enough for his FEMALE teammates, Naruto didn't seem to care one way or another but then again, whenever he saw the blond without his mask the look of being completely lost was always present on his face, making the green haired boy wonder what he was missing.

However despite the fact he knew the blond was missing something, he simply couldn't figure out what it was. He was a ninja now and had missions to occupy his day instead of the academy, so what was it the boy was missing?

Finally letting out a sigh, he decided that it probably wasn't something he could help with anyway and given what he had seen of the blond, it was probably best if he didn't pry too much… or at all.

Despite his immense nervousness at the idea of arriving at the training ground where he sensei would probably be waiting, he walked at a brisk pace, she scared him more if he was late than if he was on time. That was another thing that annoyed him, if he was late Anko would beat him, but if Naruto was late she would just wait and leave when he finally arrived.

It was obvious she was playing favourites but he didn't know who to talk to about it, of course, he didn't know that the reason for that was that Naruto could humiliate her if she ever made him upset and that everyone who knew the sort of things the blond could do refused to annoy him for fear of having their skulls removed.

Finally arriving at the training ground reserved for the team, he wasn't surprised to see the rest of the team waiting calmly, immediately Anko took a look at one of the clocks mounted around the training ground before giving a small nod.

"Alright squad, today will be a special day for you… though one of you will have a different reason for it to be special," Anko stated, lowering her voice for the last part, earning several looks of curiosity from her genin, "today you will be receiving your first C-rank mission."

Immediately Donataka's eyes widened as a large grin spread across his face, at last he wasn't going to be wasting time doing household chores.

"Hell yeah!" despite how loud he was, Hana didn't blame him, they had been doing D-ranks for a good seven months now and she agreed that it was about time they finally got to do a higher ranked mission.

However despite her giddiness over finally going to receive her first C-rank, she couldn't help but remember that her sensei had said the hokage himself ordered her to get the team in a condition for such a mission, which made her wonder why they were really getting one.

XXX XXX XXX

It was decided. Their first C-rank wasn't what Hana was expecting. She had heard that most first C-ranks were escort missions since the mere presence of a ninja would deter the bandits that the client was paying for protection from. However the mission her team received was much more dangerous.

Unlike an escort mission, the one they had been sent on was a guaranteed combat mission, were their objective was the elimination of a bandit camp and a series of checkpoints set up by the thugs.

Despite the training she had been undergoing over the past month, she couldn't help but feel nervous as the group hopped through the trees, her eyes darting around to try and pick out her youngest teammate. It was something that truly scared her, despite her nose telling her that he was right there with them, she couldn't see or hear the boy, it truly made her wonder what sort of abilities he possessed to vanish like that.

Her heart started to beat faster as the small village the camp was centred around became visible as the trees cleared. Following the signal of their sensei, the group dropped to the ground as Anko proceeded to form the ridiculously simple plan.

"Alright, from our intelligence, there are four checkpoints stationed along the main road, the camp will probably be located in a clearing at a distance roughly equal from all the checkpoints," the information was no surprise and the genin made no indication that it was any different, "alright, Hana, Donataka, you two will come with me, our job will be to clear the checkpoints of any guards, Naruto, you are to locate and eradicate the main camp."

Two sets of eyes widened as they wondered what their sensei was thinking, until a quiet, 'hai Taichō' rung to their sides. Quickly jerking their heads they saw nothing as their brains tried to process what they had just heard.

"You'll get used to that," the purple haired Jōnin stated, causing her charges to look at her in surprise, "this mission was always meant as a way to give him a chance to hunt again, even if it is only bandits."

"Where was he anyway?" Donataka asked as he wondered why he hadn't seen anything of his youngest teammate throughout their entire trip, he would've asked if he been able to get close enough to the woman to ask.

"Heh, the first thing you need to know about that gaki is that his equipment makes ANBU issue look like civilian clothing, I don't know how he does it, but a part of it lets him become invisible," the trenchcoat wearing woman informed them, the shock in their eyes at that piece of information was clear, "now come on, let's clear those checkpoints."

XXX XXX XXX

Masashi Ryu wasn't anything special, he was just another bandit with a love of cheap wine and cheaper women, so he joined a bandit troupe where both were supplied for free. Of course he didn't have the most comfortable bed and he had to spill his fair share of blood to get the booze and slaves but it was worth it as far as he was concerned.

The only problem with his lifestyle was that he regularly forgot what 'his women' were like in bed courtesy of being so inebriated he couldn't tell the difference between a man and a woman. Tonight was looking like it would be one of those nights.

The only places where a bandit could get privacy in the camp was their tent or the trees surrounding the area… of course even drunk he wouldn't piss in his tent, so instead he had made his way into the woods to evacuate his bladder.

The sound of his action hid a much deadlier sound, as his world suddenly turned black.

XXX XXX XXX

Bandits. They tend to be people that failed at being either samurai or ninja, there are others who simply want their desire fulfilled by any means necessary. However it is rare for them to possess any real strength, instead relying on raw numbers to overwhelm their enemy… of course raw numbers mean nothing when fighting a phantom.

Terror was the only emotion that spread through the camp as a hunk of meat was thrown into the middle of the collection of tents, causing the sober members of the group to jump to alert. The group that was most scared however was the prisoners. Any women the vicious group liked the look of were captured and tied down, their bodies turned into nothing more than sex toys as their lives were destroyed and their wishes ignored.

Shifting their heads towards the area their 'present' had flown from, they were greeted by nothing, as one of the group decided to check the pile of flesh… before he jerked away upon recognising the basic structure of the upper half of a human being, though the head had been mangled beyond recognition.

"The hell's wrong with you?" one of the many swordsmen in the group asked as his 'friend' backed away from the chunk of flesh.

"The hell's wrong with me? The hell's wrong with whatever did this!" the response was disgust ridden and fearful, causing the other man to roll his eyes.

"Please, scare tactics won't work on me," the swordsman said before asking something that struck his curiosity, "so what is it? A pig or what?"

"A man."

As soon as that answer came up the entire camp instantly turned silent as they began to wonder what was happening. Half an hour passed with nothing more than a small rustling occurring every now and then but whenever they turned to face it, there was nothing.

Paranoia began to spread among the bandits as their brains began to dream up scenarios that they prayed wouldn't happen.

Just as the tension finally reached its limit, all hell broke loose.

A whizzing sound appeared out of thin air and once the group had figured out which direction it had come from, they were just in time to witness one of their comrades struck in the middle of the chest by a flying disk… the results broke the tension and allowed full blown panic to take over.

They had literally seen a man sliced in two by a weapon they had never seen before, from an enemy they still couldn't see, so they did the only thing they could think of in this type of situation, they tried to cut their losses and run.

That was when they discovered what the rustling was earlier. Traps of all kind littered the surrounding forest, men caught in nets began to bleed as the razor sharp wire effortlessly sliced through their flesh, others hit small pitfalls, shattering small vials of a corrosive liquid that began to dissolve their legs as soon as they touched it, others found themselves setting off proximity explosive tags, their bodies flying back into the camp as their limbs were scattered into several other places.

Upon noticing the sheer number of traps that held them within the area, the swordsman from earlier ordered the rest of the group to form a defensive circle in the centre of the camp and in an attempt to save themselves, they complied with the man they considered their leader.

Once again everything went quiet. No traps went off and whatever enemy had caged them in like wild animals was nowhere to be seen. Out of over fifty armed men, only four now remained alive.

The silence was deafening as the surviving bandits remained huddled together, their defensive perimeter allowing no blind spots as they tried to catch their enemy. Their eyes shifted constantly as they looked for any movement, none of them noticing a trio of red dots marking the next target.

A white hot ball of fire suddenly flew through the air, colliding with one of the defensive bandits, a stream burning straight through him as the ball burst in a concentrated line, penetrating even the man directly behind him, while the backs of the other two were scorched by the intense heat as it pass by.

The two survivors could do nothing more than crawl as they tried to escape certain death against whatever had decided to slaughter them all, turning to see if whatever had caused the destruction was anywhere to be seen, his heart began to beat faster when the very air distorted before revealing a short humanoid wearing dark armour, several strange looking pieces of equipment strapped to its body as it pulled out a small red tube, which it opened and poured a fluid over his last comrade.

The pain filled cries could be heard for miles as he witnessed the other man dissolve before his eyes under the destructive power of the liquid that was poured over him.

The enslaved couldn't help but look on in fear. Unlike the bandits they couldn't run even if they tried, their shackles made sure of that. Their fear completely consumed them as they watched the demonic entity walk over to the bandits leader before shoving his clawed hand into the man's back before an agonising scream left their captors lips as the monster before them tore upwards, taking several vertebrae and the man's skull in one go.

Their fear increased even further as they witnessed the beast hang the skull on a large hook attached to its belt, before turning its attention to them. The enslaved women couldn't stop themselves from panicking as the armoured figure calmly walked over to them, drawing an ornamental knife that was quickly surrounded by a colourless aura as it raised its hands to strike down at them.

The pain they expected never came. Slowly opening their eyes they saw something that shocked them to the core. The demon had cut their shackles. Their minds couldn't comprehend what was happening, the monster that had slaughtered the bandits had freed them.

"Leave or stay, it's your choice, my teammates should be arriving soon but if you feel strong enough to make your way to the village then you can go now if you want," a heavily distorted voice came from the demon, the nature of it scaring the former captives as their eyes followed the stranger walking through the blood bath as he systematically dissolved the corpses after collecting any skulls that remained, placing each one on a hook like the leaders head.

"So did you enjoy yourself gaki?" the women jerked their heads towards the new voice, revealing a trench coat wearing woman with a hitae-ate, that was when they finally realised what had happened.

"Yes I did sensei," the distorted voice replied causing the captives eyes to widen in shock, the monster was just the student, if so then how monstrous was the women to be capable of creating a monster like the one they had witnessed. However confusion appeared within their minds when they saw the duo of children behind the women, both looked like they were going to vomit at any moment, which in turn raised the question, did that woman actually make that monster?

"You know I wish you wouldn't do that all the time," Anko said calmly as Donataka and Hana finally regurgitated their lunch at the sight of their youngest teammate tearing the spine and skull out of a fallen foe, their bodies shaking in fear at the scene before them.

"Do what?"

"Take your 'trophies'," the purple haired women responded, putting extra emphasis on the word trophies, as if to imply that she didn't really consider skulls a form of trophy.

"What's wrong with my trophies?" Naruto asked completely ignorant of other people's opinions on his collection.

"They're the reason Hokage-sama made you see a psychiatrist," the tan wearing woman stated bluntly, earning nothing more than a simple tilt of her charges head in response.

"Well… would you rather I took their skulls or yours?" everyone couldn't help but look at the armoured child as he asked that as if to try and make them agree that taking the skulls was alright.

"You're not going to listen to me are you?" the older woman asked blankly.

"I am listening to you, I just don't get what your problem is," and with a simple hand movement he dissolved the last of the corpses, his fluid easily drawing the attention of his teammates as it effortlessly consumed the flesh beneath it.

Anko however was more interested in the production of the fluid, an easily transported liquid that could completely destroy a corpse was quite possibly one of the greatest pieces of technology the hunter corps could get their hands on. She had no misconceptions that the boy would give his technology away, the fact that it was so unique told her that he had either spent a fortune he didn't have on it, or he had developed it from scratch.

Given that the child had no fortune to spend on anything, let alone advanced technology she believed it was perfectly reasonable to think that the boy had made all his gear, sure she knew about the spring lock system used for his gauntlet being made by a blacksmith within the village walls, but the seals required to craft the technology he possessed was something on a completely different scale and the amount of effort the child must have put in making them meant that it was highly likely that he would only ever pass his gear onto his family if he ever got one.

However she knew that the hunter corps would be the first to try and get their hands on his fluid and she knew a way she could get the dissolvent into ANBU, whether the blond really wanted to part with it or not.

XXX XXX XXX

The return trip was spent in silence, Donataka and Hana because of the shock of seeing their younger teammate mutilate his victims, Anko because of her musings on the boys dissolvent and Naruto… well he was just finally feeling happy and relaxed after so many months of feeling agitated and tense.

The boy definitely needed psychiatric help and unfortunately for him, everyone else thought the same thing.


	9. Chapter 9

Anko couldn't help but stare at the Hokage blankly after she had given him her report and her request that the boy be given a psychiatric exam. From what she had just heard Naruto had already had an exam and was due another in about three months.

To think that the Hokage was prepared to let the boy be a shinobi with his mental state… especially given the fact he had only just turned nine years old, most natural born monsters tend to become traitors, take Momochi Zabuza for example, killed an entire graduating class, became one of the seven swordsmen of the mist and then tried to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage.

"I don't know what shit you're smoking but I want some," it was the only thing she could conclude, the man was stoned, otherwise he would've realised the dangers associated with letting a bloodthirsty monster become a ninja and receive proper training.

"(sigh) I know this may be difficult to understand Anko, however Inoichi gave the boy the exam and he concluded that Naruto is only a threat to his prey… though it is best to not become his prey in the first place," the aged leader muttered causing the young woman to look at him blankly for several seconds before she finally made her next question.

"And what makes him so certain that the gaki won't be a danger? I'm sure you know as well as I do what he's capable of doing to other human beings," the statement simply brought a sigh out of the aged Kage as he tried to think of how to explain it to the woman.

"I believe the simplest way of explaining it is that he views Konoha residents as family and everyone else as dangerous predators to be hunted," he knew that he was probably exaggerating a little bit but he had to try and make the brown eyed tokubetsu Jōnin understand that he had a good reason to trust the blond.

"What? You think that he thinks of Konoha as family when he's prepared to hunt down our own ninja for sport?" the normally violent woman deadpanned, earning a curt nod from the aged leader.

"If he didn't then they wouldn't have survived his 'hunts' and we would be down a much larger number of ninja right now," immediately the purple haired konoichi picked up on the wording the man used as her eyes began to narrow.

"Did something happen while we were on that mission?" she had to ask, if her former 'sensei' had come back then she felt she needed to know.

"(sigh) it appears as though young Uchiha Itachi suffered a mental breakdown and… slaughtered his clan," the immediate shock present on the young woman's face said it all, they had lost the entire police force of konoha to a thirteen year old ANBU captain, "there was only one survivor and he is currently being detained by the Yamanaka clan until they believe his mind is stable enough for him to be released."

"Until his mind is stable… you mean to tell me the only survivor was a kid?" Anko asked earning a nod of confirmation from the older man, "how did he survive?"

"From what Inoichi has informed me, Itachi appears to have considered his brother not worth killing," the old man averted his eyes upon making his statement, he knew that Anko did not like those sorts of 'sentiments', her old sensei apparently discarding her because she wasn't good enough in his eyes.

He could feel her intent to kill raising as she was reminded of Orochimaru from that statement and without a second thought he simply let her calm down in her own time.

"Is that everything Anko?" the aged leader asked once her hatred had died down, causing her to look at him, a hint of pain visible in her eyes.

"Not quite, can you call the head hunter, I want to have a word with him," immediately the older man raised an eyebrow before accepting her request.

XXX XXX XXX

Team four stood just outside training ground forty four, apparently Anko needed to speak with the Hokage about something and had decided to leave her youngest 'student' in charge… for obvious reasons.

Donataka was beginning to feel extremely uneasy, his body spontaneously shivering as he looked at the cold, hard eyes of the blond hunter, his mask no longer donning his face as he stared intently at the older boy.

"You are holding our team back Donataka," the boy suddenly stated coldly, causing the boy to flinch slightly at the younger boys statement, it wasn't as if he was trying to hold them back, he just lacked the talent or training they had. Naruto was known throughout the ninja ranks as 'THE prodigy in Fūinjutsu' possessing such a natural talent for the art that he had invented several unique and dangerous seals to upgrade his own equipment. Hana was one of the potential heirs of the Inuzuka clan and had been trained in the ways of a ninja since she could walk, if not before then, so she was advanced for her age.

He on the other hand had joined the academy late, resulting in him learning to harness his chakra later than most other students which in turn meant he had always had a more… distant connection to it than the rest of the class, this was proven when he had taken an entire two weeks of non-stop practice to complete just the tree climbing exercise and another week to complete the water walking exercise.

Because of his disconnection with his chakra he had to put extra work in that area which cut down on his physical conditioning and in turn made him the worst in the class at taijutsu… honestly the only reason he had managed to pass the graduation exam was because he had managed to salvage enough points on the written test to counterbalance his poor practical performances.

He wasn't an egghead by any means, however he wasn't as stupid as he made himself out to be, or maybe he was, he had been playing the part of the clown for so long now that he didn't really know if he had actually become his mask… but he always found it easier to cope when they laughed at him instead of simply called him a failure for trying his best.

But here he was being told by the one person he truly feared with all his being that he was holding the team back… and he knew that this boy wasn't to be taken lightly having finally seen what he did to his victims.

"You have a choice right now, either prove yourself worthy of being on this team… or you will be removed and replaced," the azure eyed blond stated seriously, the coldness in his eyes betraying no emotion.

"Oh please… we all know you don't have the authority to do something like that," the grass haired genin stated confidently upon hearing the boys statement.

"There is more than one way of removing a person from a team… this particular method involves you joining this guy," the hunter of the group stated coldly as his hand patted one of the skulls hooked to his belt.

Both of his teammates felt their blood run cold, Naruto was threatening to kill the deadlast if he didn't prove himself… having seen what he could do first hand neither was prepared to doubt the sincerity of the boys words.

"Now, you will fight Hana and the Haimaru brothers, if you cannot win, you will join my collection," immediately the duo proceeded to open their mouths only to be cut off by the boy, "and if you two refuse to fight, the weak one will just die sooner. And Hana, if you don't go full out against him, I will kill him, do you understand?"

The young girl was about to start challenging what he was saying when she was halted by something out of place, a single wink sent her way by the youngest… immediately she knew he was up to something and it required her to play along, which meant she would just have to give in to his orders to fight the weakest teammate seriously.

However she would have to make it seem real.

"And what makes you think you could just get away with killing our teammate?!" she shouted, silently wondering how the blond would respond to her challenge.

"He would be no big loss, I on the other hand have many seals I can easily use to bribe a pardon for 'accidentally' killing an idiot like him," she immediately realised that he was probably right, his equipment was truly advanced from what she had seen of his dissolvent and losing that would be a major blow to the village… that is if he would hand it over anyway.

Listening into the blonds words, Donataka couldn't help but sweat as the boy unsheathed his claws, the simple action showing that the boy wasn't just messing around as he made his next statement.

"Now stop stalling or I'll just kill him where he stands," once again Hana began to grow nervous as she stood with her trio of puppies, he wasn't exactly making his intentions clear to her and her mind was beginning to wander over the possibility that he WAS intending on killing their teammate and that the wink was supposed to let her know that he wasn't going to kill her.

"Hajime."

XXX XXX XXX

"Let me get this straight, Uzumaki Naruto has some form of chemical that dissolves corpses in a matter of seconds, leaving not a single trace of the person when it's finished?" a tall man wearing a bear mask and a hooded cloak that covered every inch of his body asked the purple haired tokubetsu Jōnin as he stood in front of Anko and the Hokage.

"That's right," the snake mistress stated with a smirk as she looked at the man that was in charge of the Konoha hunter nin.

"I want it," the ANBU said childishly, causing the others in the room to roll their eyes at the man's obvious statement, they had both realised that he would and that was the whole reason he had been called, "I don't care what it costs, I want that liquid. I'll even throw my wife in for free… wait no, that'd probably ruin it on their side wouldn't it…"

The other occupants of the room couldn't help but sweatdrop at the man, they both knew that the man hated his wife, she had wooed him back when he was a young Chūnin and she was a waitress at a bar he used to frequent… turned out she was just a lazy little girl that wanted to get married to a ninja because they could make large earnings.

Still, he managed to get away from her most of the time because of his position giving him long working hours but that isn't the topic right now.

"How about this, it should work if I know the brat well enough," immediately the man started listening to the brown eyed woman, if there was a guaranteed way of getting his hands on this near perfect disposal tool then he would accept it, "he wants to become a hunter nin when he gets promoted to Chūnin, so give him an ultimatum, either manufacture it for the corps, let the division manufacture its own or never be accepted to be a hunter nin."

"And what makes you think that'll work? What's stopping him from just deciding that he will continue as a normal ninja instead of becoming a hunter?" the commanding hunter asked, he didn't see why such a suggestion would work.

"Because he's a hunter through and through, given the choice of giving up his dissolvent and giving up hunting, I know which he'd choose," Anko responded, she was normally quite a good judge of character… outside of the total monsters that is.

"So should we call him then?" the masked ninja asked, wanting to gain access to the destructive liquid as soon as possible.

"Not right now, I've given him a job he can't do with an adult around," the snake summoner stated seriously, causing the other members of the room to narrow their eyes at her.

"And what is this job Anko-chan?" the Sandaime asked cautiously.

"To see if Donataka is really as hopeless as he seems."

XXX XXX XXX

Hana didn't know what to do. She thought she had been winning from the beginning but now, she wasn't sure.

Kneeling several feet in front of her was Donataka, a look of desperation on his face as he held a kunai to the neck of one of her ninken, the puppy unable to do anything as its consciousness had been stripped from it courtesy of a stray explosive tag that her opponent had missed with earlier.

He had told her to surrender but given the circumstances she didn't know what to do… would Naruto kill the grass haired boy if she did? There were too many things making her uncertain of what to do right now.

Donataka on the other hand was feeling even worse, he didn't want to have to threaten his teammates comrade but it was the only way he could see himself surviving right now and even this wasn't guaranteed either.

Before the situation could escalate, they were snapped out of their thoughts as a short blond walked in between them before heading towards the village, prompting the pair to turn to face him, wondering what was going on.

"Congratulations, you passed," immediately the pair of combatants blinked several times, their minds trying to understand exactly what was happening for the blond to declare that the lawn head had 'passed'.

"Huh? you make it sound like some sort of official test," the weakest of the group shouted at the youngest before the hunter stopped in his tracks and turned to the other two.

"I pretty much was," Naruto stated blankly, causing both of the others to stare at him strangely.

"(sigh) Anko asked me to do it, she wanted to know if your written scores were actually worth something or if it was just a fluke you passed," the azure eyed child stated calmly, causing the other two to look at him with looks of confusion, "she wanted me to make you think you would die if you lost. We wanted to see if you were capable of showing some tactics when desperate or if you were a hopeless case, why else do you think I set you up against Hana AND the Haimaru siblings?"

A look of realisation spread over the female genin's face before it was replaced with a scowl upon realising exactly what the blond had meant.

"Are you saying that you expected him to take one of them as a hostage?" she asked him with a rare growl in her tone, it wasn't something she did often and despite the fact the youngest knew it meant danger, he answered anyway.

"Yes."

That was it, that single word made the young girl lunge at him, her nails enhanced into claws as she started to attack the blond in anger, he had put her ninken at risk and she did not like that one bit.

Calmly pulling out a small disk with four leg like protrusions, the blond simply flicked it into the young girls path, effortlessly sticking to her clothes before a sharp cackling was heard alongside a short burst of blue light.

Hana didn't know what had happened but she had just experienced an immense pain and been incapable of letting out a scream to it, then to make matters even worse, she could no longer move as her body collapsed into a kneeling position.

Occasionally her muscles would twitch but that was all she could feel, whatever the boy had done had rendered her completely defenceless.

Donataka didn't know exactly what had happened however he was almost certain it had involved raiton chakra, it was about the only thing that made that colour of light which he knew about, which was also backed up by the sound that had been made as well.

Looking towards his teammates, he witnessed the whiskered genin plucking a piece of equipment from the girls clothes before placing it back into one of the many seals lining his belt.

"A bit of advice Hana, don't risk it," it was a very clear and simple message that was backed up by the boys actions, he had disabled her in an instant, killing her was no trouble for him… not that they needed reminding, especially now that they knew what sort of massacres he could cause.

"I will see you both tomorrow, for now, bye," and with those last words, the spiky haired blond walked back to the village, leaving his other teammates to stare at his back.


	10. Chapter 10

Within the Hokages office sat three individuals, the Hokage himself, the purple haired woman known as Mitarashi Anko and the masked man that led the hunter corps.

Out of all of them it was the hunter nin that was thinking the most. He didn't like the idea of forcing someone to give equipment to his division but at the same time the piece of tech was too perfect for disposal for him to not try and get his hands on it.

So he would do what he had to in order to get the dissolvent, however he had no intention of having the boy simply hand it over, doing it the way the T&I woman had suggested was essentially the same as stealing from someone and he didn't like the idea of stealing from a comrade. However he did have his own ideas of what to try before resorting to such a tactic.

The woman had simply said to give him a choice, lose one piece of tech or lose his chance as a hunter nin… she didn't say that he couldn't try to sweeten the deal for the boy as well.

Suddenly a knock on the door broke the silence before the young blond entered the room, he had been instructed to return once he had finished testing Donataka so he wasn't surprised to see Anko in the room with the Hokage, however the bear masked ANBU caught his attention, he wasn't aware that there would be anyone else in the room with the old man and Anko.

"You told me to come here when I was finished with Donataka Anko-sensei," Naruto stated calmly once he had decided that the ANBU didn't matter.

"Yeah, what're the results?" the purple haired tokubetsu Jōnin responded seriously, if anything she wanted to know if the boy was a hopeless case or if he at least had some sort of potential.

"He passed," hearing this actually made the woman feel less happy than hearing that he had failed would have because now it meant that she would have to work on the boy to try and bring out that potential instead of just let him die on a mission.

"Well that's good to know, guess we'll just have to try and find his niche now won't we," her words might have been nice but no one in the room was fooled… they could tell that she would rather not have to deal with him.

"So you're Uzumaki Naruto huh? I was expecting someone taller," came an unfamiliar voice to the blond, one that he assumed would belong to the bear masked man given the distortion that covered it.

"That's right, is that a problem?" the whiskered child asked, his mind wondering what this man wanted with him.

"Naruto, allow me to introduce you to Kuma, the head of the hunter corps," the Hokage stated, earning pair of wide eyes from the boy before he turned his head to face the ANBU and gave a small bow to the man.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know who you were and meant no disrespect," the boy stated, causing the man to stare at him, the child unable to see the blank look on his face at the boys actions.

"Um… it's not a problem, anyway… I've heard something interesting about you, is it true that you have a liquid that can completely dissolve a corpse?" the hunter nin asked the boy, earning a small nod of confirmation from the child, "are you prepared to sell it to us?"

Suddenly the boy stiffened, it had taken him a long time just to figure out how to make that piece of tech and in the end it was only because of Kyūbi that he had managed to create it… was it really okay to sell it?

"_Hey, Kyūbi, what do you think of it? It's your chakra that makes it," _the young boy asked the bijū in his head.

"… _**they want your specialised equipment, if you're going to say yes then milk 'em for as much as you can… why not a new home? Have them pay for a plot of land and building works, make your own pyramid complete with a jungle as a garden haha,"**_ he couldn't help but notice the mirth present in the fox's voice as it began to laugh at the idea of these shinobi seeing the plans for such a completely different architectural style.

The adults in the room began to feel a little uneasy as the boy remained silent, lost in his thoughts… in the end he made his decision… he needed to get a bigger place for all his trophies anyway.

"I'll supply you with my dissolvent under a few conditions," the boy stated calmly, causing the adults to listen carefully, they didn't expect him to agree at all but if he had conditions then it would be interesting to see what sort of conditions he wanted, "first of all, I want guaranteed entry into the hunter corps as soon as I reach Chūnin, secondly, I will NOT share anything else with you," the boy started, earning nods of acceptance from the adults, "three, I want training ground 43 and 44 to be signed over to me," now THAT condition made the group splutter a little, the child wanted two training fields, including the one they usually hosted the Chūnin exams in, "I also want building permission for training ground 43 and all materials and building work paid for until it is complete."

Silence reigned in the room as the adults processed the child's conditions. All in all it wasn't as much as it sounded, since they already owned both of the training grounds it meant that they wouldn't be spending any money on them, plus getting the materials for buildings was cheap and easy and building work wouldn't be particularly expensive either.

The problem was that he wanted training ground 44 in particular. It was a dangerous place, the trees were massive and the animals were fierce, that was why it was perfect as the second stage of the Chūnin exams when they were held in Konoha. The aged leader decided to ask the child exactly why he wanted THAT training field in particular.

"May I ask why you want training ground 44 in particular?"

"It has the most trees," the simple explanation caused the adults to look at him blankly, their minds trying to figure out exactly why the boy wanted a training ground with lots of trees.

"May I ask exactly why you want a training ground with lots of trees?" the aged leader asked the child, wondering exactly what was going through the boys head.

"Well it's the best sort of training ground to learn how to hunt," the blue eyed child stated simply, causing confusion to spread through the room… the child hunted ANBU… why did he want a training field to learn how to hunt?

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun… but why do you want to learn how to hunt when you've been doing it for so long already?" it just didn't make sense in the Hokage's eyes, the boy was already the most dangerous predator in Konoha, why would he need to learn something he was already a master of?

"I don't… but if I'm going to start a clan I need somewhere to teach any kids I have," suddenly the adults started choking, since when had the child wanted to start a clan? He had never mentioned anything like that before.

"The hell's brought on this idea gaki?" Anko couldn't help but ask in surprise as she began to wonder what was going on with her student, he seemed like a solitary predator, a lone wolf, not a pack animal like the clans tended to be.

"What's wrong with wanting to start a clan? I have all this special gear so wouldn't it be better to pass it along whatever family I get instead of just die and leave it unworkable?" the last part of that sentence surprised the adults in the room, why would his gear be unworkable after he died?

"What do you mean by 'unworkable'?" the hunter commander asked, how would the child's weapons not work for someone else?

"Well it has a chakra recognition seal linked up to a nature absorption and a Katon conversion seal… so if someone that isn't me channels their chakra into anything of mine… well it'll sorta blow up… big time," the blond explained, causing the adults eyes to take on an annoyed expression at the fact the boy had done something like that to his gear when no-one else could.

"So you are essentially asking for a couple of training grounds to build a clan compound on while having a private training ground as well, am I correct in this assumption?" Sarutobi finally asked, it wasn't something he had ever expected to hear from the boy as the group continued to stare at the child.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" the adults couldn't bring themselves to say what was on their minds but it was something along the lines of 'one of you is enough, why the hell would we want more?'

Silence reigned as the group tried to think of a way to keep the conversation civil while also letting the child know that they didn't like the idea of there being an entire clan of skull stealing psychopaths with unrivalled technology running around Konoha.

"_**I think they don't like the idea of there being an entire clan like you running around, can't really blame them, as far as humans are concerned just having one of you is good enough to act as a… deterrent for other villages, any more could be considered a possible danger to the village… especially if one of your family defects,"**_ the kitsune explained to the boy who couldn't help but roll his eyes at the comment, earning confused glances off the adults in the room.

"Is something wrong Naruto-kun?" the aged kage asked, it did two things, made the child realise that he cared about him… and changed the subject.

"No… Kyūbi just explained what your problem is with me," immediately the room was put on edge, they didn't know the child had been in contact with the fox and the fact that it seemed to be talking to him now was not what they would consider a good situation.

"Naruto-kun… please tell me you don't listen to what the fox says," Hiruzen asked, he didn't know what the bijū told the boy, however he was certain that whatever it was doing would be an attempt to trick the child.

"I don't listen to what the fox says," Naruto stated blankly, causing the adults to look at him with twitching eyes.

"You know if you're going to lie at least try and be convincing," Anko stated earning a blank look off the child.

"I just told him what he told me to tell him," the child stated bluntly, causing the group to get the urge to strangle the kid, though they managed to hold themselves back.

"Would you please tell me why you are prepared to listen to the beast that attacked our village when you were born?" the question was simple and despite everything, the blond couldn't really see what their problem was, Konoha had attacked its fair share of villages so why act so hostile towards a being made of chakra that attacked the village?

"Because it hasn't given me anything to doubt it yet… plus we have an arrangement that suits both of us," the blond stated calmly, causing the older individuals in the room to widen their eyes at that bit of information, it seemed almost completely insane that the boy would make an arrangement with the Kyūbi full stop, let alone one that benefited the fox.

"And what exactly does this arrangement involve?" Kuma asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice, the simple fact that they were still alive indicated that this arrangement currently caused no harm to them, which made him wonder exactly how it benefited the bijū.

"In exchange for its chakra on demand, I make its stay in the seal more comfortable," the adults began to wonder exactly what the boy wanted the demons chakra for, from what they had seen the child was more than capable of killing entire teams of ANBU without it, so what was the point in having access to it?

"Naruto… do you even use the Kyūbi's chakra?" the aged leader asked, from what Anko's report had said, she had not felt any malicious intent that would have been felt if the Kyūbi's seal had started to weaken, so that meant the boy hadn't used it to kill those bandits.

"Yes, it is the main ingredient of my dissolvent," suddenly the more experienced ninja froze, the boy had essentially just said that he was the only person in Hi no Kuni that could make his dissolvent and even more importantly, that it was possible the only use he had for the beasts chakra was to dispose of corpses.

"_**Would you look at that, it seems like they never even considered that your little toy was made using my chakra, they seem pretty foolish to me,"**_ the kitsune said from behind its cage, greatly enjoying the expressions on the two visible faces.

The hunter nin however was beginning to wonder exactly how the child made the dissolvent. He was aware that the foxes chakra was corrosive, but it was closer to being a gas and wasn't as corrosive as Anko made it out to be, so how did it work? It was a question that was beginning to grate on him.

"So how does your little liquid work?" he decided that he couldn't hold in the question any longer, causing the child to look at him blankly before making his statement.

"I'm prepared to sell it to you, I'm not prepared to tell you anything more than what I've already said," the ANBU gave a nod of confirmation, he had simply been interested and although the way the child prepared the vials would bug him, he would just live with it, it wasn't like he had lost an arm or anything.

"So do you accept my conditions?" the blue eyed child asked, the conversation might have changed topic but he wasn't stupid enough to completely forget what they had been discussing.

"I'm afraid that we can't give you training ground 44, however we can give you training ground 42 instead and if you want trees then that can be arranged," the aged leader stated, making the child tilt his head to the side in confusion.

"What do you mean it can be arranged? A forest like that doesn't just grow in a few days," the spiky haired child enquired, he was actually beginning to wonder what the old man knew that he didn't.

"You'll see, just wait a week and come back, we'll fulfil our end of the bargain, so you had better ensure you fulfil your end," the old man stated seriously, earning a nod from the child, "you are dismissed."

"Hai Hokage-sama," came the calm reply from the child before he left the room via the front door.

"You didn't use my idea," Anko muttered with a hint of annoyance in her voice as she looked at Kuma.

"Well it worked out fine without resorting to threats… besides an entire clan of hunter nins sounds like it could be fun," came the reply from the ANBU before he vanished via shunshin, leaving the other adults with twitching eyes, the man hadn't even bothered to make sure they didn't have anything else to say.

"Are you sure it's worth it to give him what he wants?" the question was directed towards the aged leader this time, causing him to let out a sigh of defeat.

"Well if he makes a name for himself other villages will be reluctant to attack us… especially if they believe there is an entire clan like him in here," the aged leader said, earning a reluctant nod from the purple haired woman as she accepted that she wouldn't want to fight one person like Naruto, let alone an entire clan like him, "besides, it's cheaper this way than it would be paying him for each vial."

"Cheapskate."

* * *

Now as I said before this story will not be updated, it may be rewritten at some point however that is dependent largely on a poll I set up on my proper profile.


End file.
